Find Out Who Your Friends Are
by Wolfsong98
Summary: When the chips are down, you realize who your friends are.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 1/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Fandom**: CSI Miami

**Summary: **When the chips are down, you realize who your friends are.

**Type: **Slash

**Rating**: FRM

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the recognizable characters, nor am I making any money from this. I'm simply borrowing the characters and I promise to return them when I am done.

**Author's Notes**: I was listening to songs at random on my ipod and when this song, (Skin by Rascal Flatts), began playing the bunny bit and refused to let go. Also, I want to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone that has provided help whenever I got stuck on this monster of a story or offered their support. Without it, I doubt that I would ever have gotten this far. I would also like to give special thanks to each of my betas (whether in the past or current).

Though this story takes place during the fourth season, the scene in Shattered where Marisol informed Horatio about her cancer never happened. Also the H/Marisol pairing never happened. Regarding the timeline of events in the Vegas series, the lab explosion never happened though the other events up to and including Grave Danger did.

This is the main story in my Skin AU. Originally it was supposed to be only 3-5 pages but now its way more than that. I'm not finished but I was talked into going ahead and posting what I had. *grins*

**Warnings:** AU. If you are a fan of Natalia Boa Vista, then this story probably isn't for you.

**Beta(s)**: Victoria Innes (past), Maj. Paul, and Beck.

Calleigh silently entered the room and took a seat. Out of habit, the criminalist quickly took note of her surroundings. The young woman couldn't help but wonder why all the waiting rooms that she had ever been in were painted stark white. It seemed ironic to her that a place where some children lost their childhood to disease was painted in the color that represented innocence. Calleigh often saw firsthand how people's lives were affected by what went on inside these walls.

She didn't even want to be here in the first place. With her profession, visits to a doctor's office rarely brought good news. If the choice had been left up to her, Calleigh would have preferred to stay as far away from the doctor as humanly possible. After all, whatever it was that was wrong with her couldn't be all that serious, she thought, trying unsuccessfully to convince herself. When the criminalist first became ill, the young woman thought that all she had was a bad case of the flu. In fact, it wasn't until her appetite had become practically nonexistent and her energy level had plummeted that the suspicion that it could be something more serious than the flu occurred to her.

At first, it wasn't all that difficult for the ballistics expert to hide the fact that she wasn't feeling up to par. However, as time went by hiding the fact that she was sick became progressively harder. After all, Calleigh worked with some of the best CSIs in the country.

It wasn't until she began to lose weight that the team, more specifically Horatio and Ryan, had begun to ask questions. Her mind flashed back to when Horatio had questioned her the first time.

* * *

That day had not started out well at all. Although she had woken up on time, the southern woman soon found herself running late. Calleigh groaned when the outfit that she had laid out the night before was too loose. Her heart rate quickened as every single outfit that she tried on afterwards was similarly baggy. Calleigh finally settled on a white button up shirt that she hadn't been able to wear for a few months as well as a pair of black dress pants. The criminalist then had to search the far reaches of her closet to find a belt that would hold her slacks up.

When she finally arrived at the crime lab, Calleigh's heart was racing as she hurried inside. The young woman knew that she had missed the morning meeting where assignments were handed out. Calleigh quickly made her way down to the locker room and paled. Horatio was there and it was evident that he had been waiting for her. For a minute it was as if her body had forgotten how to breathe. Horatio pulled off his sunglasses as he turned to face his ballistics expert. "Calleigh is everything okay?" he asked.

The blonde did her best to give the boss a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, H. I was running late this morning. Sorry about missing the assignments."

"Trust us when we say it's obvious that something isn't right with you." A new voice sounded from the doorway of the locker room. Horatio raised an eyebrow when Calleigh started at the sound of Ryan's voice.

"I think we just established that you aren't fine." The blonde shot an irritated look at Ryan who just blinked at her with an innocent look on his face. Horatio rolled his eyes, ignoring the interactions going on between his trace and ballistics experts. The lieutenant took a couple of steps forward, coming to a stop directly in front of her. Instinctively, Calleigh took a step backwards. The blonde criminalist had seen the redhead question enough suspects to know that H was like a dog worrying a bone until he got some answers. "It's obvious that you have lost some weight recently." As if to emphasize his point he tilted his head towards her.

It was at that moment that Calleigh realized that she was chewing on her hair; it was a nervous habit of hers. The young woman quickly pulled the strand out of her mouth and tried to casually tuck it behind her ear. She was doing her best to act calm. Her heart was racing and, even though it seemed ridiculous, she felt that Horatio could sense it.

Calleigh gave Horatio a slight smile that was a poor reflection of her usual million-watt smile. Avoiding his piercing gaze, the blonde at long last spoke. "I'll admit that I've lost a few pounds recently. However, I don't think that it's anything to worry about. I'm…I'm just trying out a new diet that I heard about in Woman's World magazine." It was a flimsy excuse at best and it was obvious that neither of her teammates believed her. If she wasn't mistaken, Calleigh thought she heard a cough, which sounded suspiciously like "Bullshit," come from behind her.

The redhead gave Ryan a look before also giving his ballistics expert the same one. Horatio cleared his throat, once more earning the attention of his subordinates. "We will resume this conversation later. In the meantime, Calleigh you will be working with us." When he had finished speaking, the lieutenant calmly left the locker room with Ryan hot on his heels. Calleigh waited until she was sure that they were gone before she breathed a small sigh of relief.

The southern blonde was aware that from that moment on she was under constant surveillance by her colleagues. Horatio usually had Calleigh working with either Ryan or himself. She couldn't remember the last time that she had worked a case solo. For the most part, the fact that she was being watched constantly irked her. However, there was a small part of her that was grateful she had friends that cared so much about her.

* * *

Calleigh winced when she looked down at her arm. That bruise was the main reason behind why she was sitting here in the physician's office. The young woman had received it when a suspect had pushed her into a stack of crates in an attempted bid at freedom. However, instead of getting away he crashed into Horatio. That incident had happened close to a month ago and she still had the same ugly blemish on her forearm.

Calleigh had managed to keep the fact that the bruise had never healed a secret in the weeks following the accident. She eventually became careless. One simple mistake and not only did she have two overprotective crime scene investigators but also the lab's resident mother hen on her case. The ballistics expert could clearly recall the events, barely a week ago, which transpired to procure a doctor's appointment with her name on it.

* * *

The first thing that the Louisiana native became aware of was the upbeat music blaring out of the radio. Groaning, the woman rolled onto her stomach and pulled the pillow over her head. The normally cheerful blonde wasn't feeling all that energetic and was trying to ignore the lively music. After doing her best to ignore sounds such as Rascal Flatts' _Love You Out Loud_ and Alan Jackson's _Little Bitty_ among others, Calleigh gave in. She was just climbing out of bed when Faith Hill's _Let's Go to Vegas_ began playing. Finally pushed past her limits, Calleigh launched her pillow at the radio, succeeding in knocking it to the floor and effectively unplugging it. "I'm up already!" the southern woman cried out in an exasperated voice.

Slowly making her way into the bathroom, the criminalist stepped into her shower. After taking a short, cold, shower Calleigh was awake enough to function and ready to start the day. When she caught sight of the time, the young woman realized that she needed to hurry if she wanted to make it to work in time for the morning meeting. The last thing Calleigh needed was for her to arrive late and have Horatio sniffing around. The blonde reached the hummer in record time. Unable to stand the drive in silence, she turned the radio on.

"Welcome to our first ever Feel Good Friday. Today for the duration of our morning show, we will be playing the latest and greatest country hits that will be sure to put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. This is Cowboy Chris, your DJ and coming up next is _The Fireman_ by George Strait."

The upbeat music did wonders for her mood. By the time she pulled into her parking space at the crime lab, Calleigh was singing along with the radio. The young woman quickly navigated through the hallways and up the stairs until she arrived at her boss' office. So intent was she on making it to the meeting on time, Calleigh failed to notice the one person staring at her with a scathing look on their face. When Calleigh arrived in Horatio's office she was pleased to learn that the meeting hadn't begun.

The good mood did not last for very long. Within minutes of receiving her assignment, Calleigh was both annoyed and upset. This time it wasn't getting paired up with Ryan that bothered her. What was aggravating was that the assignment was a cold case. It didn't help matters that Eric had been given a case to work on solo. The knowledge that it was a floater didn't help at all. When asked what he was going to spend the day doing, the ginger haired detective shook his head and admitted that he was going to spend the day catching up on the piles of paperwork that had taken up residence on his desk.

When the meeting concluded, Calleigh didn't stick around to chat with her teammates. Her quick departure also did not go unnoticed. With a slight nod of his head, Horatio motioned for the level one CSI to follow the retreating blonde. "You got it, H." Eric raised an eyebrow, but remained silent as he followed Ryan out the door.

Ryan groaned. This was not good, he thought to himself. In the few minutes that it had taken him to accept this new task and leave the office, Calleigh had disappeared. The brown haired criminalist rolled his eyes upward while shaking his head. "Why me?" he muttered before he went off to search for his missing partner.

The first place that came to mind of where she might possibly be was the ballistics lab. The surprise was evident on his face when he found the place empty. Ryan was soon aware of someone chuckling from the doorway. Turning towards the source of the quiet laughter, he spoke. "What's so funny Eric?"

The Latino took a deep breath before attempting to answer. "Nothing really, just the look on your face when you realized that Calleigh wasn't here. This would have been the first place I would have checked myself."

"Did you come here just to tell me that or did you have another reason?" Ryan asked sarcastically. "Besides, don't you have a case you need to work on?"

Eric quickly held up his hands. "I was just coming to tell you that I saw Cal. Although, if you're going to be that way…" As if to emphasize his point, the Russian Cuban turned around and acted like he was about to walk off.

Ryan knew that he had been out of line but, considering the hostility that had existed between the two of them from when he was first hired, it was a hard thing to change. At least lately, both of them were doing their best to act civil around each other. "Hey, Eric, wait up." That was as close as Ryan was going to come to an apology unless something far worse was said.

Grinning, Eric turned around. "I knew that would get your attention."

"Shut up." Ryan gritted his teeth, doing his best not to make any scathing comments. "You said you saw Calleigh. You mind telling me where she is?"

"Don't get your briefs in a wad, of course I'm going to tell you. You'll find her in the break room."

"Thanks." A mischievous grin spread across Ryan's face. "Although, I'm not wearing any briefs."

"Too much information," the Cuban groaned while doing his best not to roll his eyes. "And on that note, I'm going to head out to my crime scene."

The brown haired man couldn't help but smirk as he walked past the more experienced CSI. He wished that his camera were with him, instead of it being safely stored inside his kit, to catch the look on Eric's face. Ryan quickly maneuvered through the hallways towards the break room.

Calleigh looked up from pouring herself a cup of coffee when she heard the door to the break room open. The blonde gave Ryan a smile to let him know that she was teasing. "It took you long enough. You looked for me in the ballistics lab didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"You guys know me so well, it's nice to be able to surprise y'all on occasion," the blonde said with a smile as she was reaching for the creamer to put in her coffee. "I know that Horatio had his reasons for giving Eric the active case. After all it was a floater and he might have to do some diving." Without even looking in her partner's direction she added, "You can close your mouth now and stop imitating a fish." Abruptly, Ryan closed his mouth and nodded. He was relieved that his partner was in a better mood. An angry Cal was not an easy person to work with.

"Darn it!"

The exclamation broke Ryan out of his thoughts and brought his attention back to the break room and his colleague. "What's wrong?"

"The night shift emptied the sugar bowl and didn't refill it." Opening the cupboard, the blonde narrowed her eyes. The plastic storage container in which the staff kept the sugar had been pushed all the way to the back of the top shelf. Calleigh had to stand on the very tips of her toes and stretch her arm as far as she could in order to reach the desired ingredient for her coffee. So intent was she on reaching for the sugar, the blonde failed to notice that the sleeves of her shirt had slid down to hug her elbows.

"Need any help?" Ryan asked, knowing that it was just wasting his breath.

Sure enough, Cal glanced over at him from above her outstretched arm and smiled. "I've got it," she said upon extracting her prize from the cupboard. "Thanks for asking, though."

Puzzled as to why there wasn't a playful response to her comment, Calleigh turned around to face an ashen Ryan Wolfe. By following her partner's line of sight, Calleigh discovered what had caused her friend's face to lose its color because hers had as well.

"Damn." The curse escaped her lips before she knew it, making coming up with a reasonable excuse for the contusion that still existed on her right arm impossible.

Calleigh's reaction to his was all the proof Ryan needed to confirm his suspicions. He just raised an eyebrow before turning around and exiting the break room. During the time that it had taken for her to recover her bearings and cover the distance to the door, Ryan had marched up to Horatio's office. As she watched, he knocked before quickly entering.

"I'm going to kill him," she mumbled under her breath. The blonde leaned up against the doorframe, unconsciously tugging at her shirtsleeves, and watched Ryan waving his arms in the air, pacing back and forth across Horatio's office. Not paying any attention to where he was going Ryan slammed right into Horatio's desk and knocked a stack of forms to the ground. Calleigh bit back a smile when her partner stopped his worried pacing and bent down to clean up the mess. Once the trace expert had placed the pile of paperwork back on his boss' desk and made sure that the stack was even, Horatio stood up and walked over to the door motioning for the younger man to follow him.

The coffee was about as Calleigh tried to come up with a place where she could avoid her teammates for the time being. The morgue was out simply because the young woman did not want to have to explain to Alexx exactly why she was avoiding two of the people that were considered, by the lab and herself, to be her best friends. The ballistics lab was also ruled out because that was the first place that anyone who knew her would look. Snapping her fingers, she thought of the perfect place. Neither Horatio nor Ryan would think to look for her in the women's restroom. It was so simple that Calleigh didn't know why she hadn't thought of it sooner. There was only one problem with her solution; the blonde would have to walk right past the steps that led to Horatio's fishbowl of an office.

With a little luck, Calleigh hoped that she could make it past the stairs without being spotted. Unfortunately for her, Lady Luck was not on her side. The blonde had managed to make it a grand total of one step past the stairway leading to the lieutenant's office before she felt his piercing gaze upon her.

"Ms. Duquesne," Horatio's low tone caused Calleigh to stop dead in her tracks. It was at that moment when the Louisiana native realized that she was in serious trouble. Ryan was the only person in the lab that H called by his last name on a regular basis. "Show me your arm."

Knowing that she was already skating on thin ice, the blonde took a deep breath as she turned to face her boss. "It's nothing H, really." When his eyes just narrowed, Calleigh knew that he hadn't bought her excuse.

"I'll be the judge of that. Now, let me see your arm." The younger woman knew better than to wait around for Horatio to tell her to do something for a third time. Reluctantly, she slowly rolled up her right sleeve revealing the evidence that she had been trying so hard to hide.

Upon seeing the mark which covered his associate's arm, the older man grew even more concerned. When Ryan had first told him about the bruise still being present on Calleigh's arm, Horatio had been skeptical. He first thought that the younger man might have mistaken it for a more recent bruise. However, after seeing the contusion for himself the redhead knew that it was the same one. It had an unusual pattern due to an imperfection in the wooden crate that she had been shoved against.

"Come with us."

"Where are we going?" Calleigh asked Horatio.

"You are going to see Alexx." Horatio explained. "We are going to escort you in order to make sure you inform her about the situation with your arm." Hearing those words caused the Calleigh's face to lose what little color it had left.

"Calleigh, you need to go see Alexx. We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Ryan added, putting in his two cents, while holding up his pair of handcuffs. "Your choice."

"I'd like to see you try," the ballistics expert retorted, placing her hands on her hips.

While Calleigh was focusing her attention on Ryan, she failed to notice Horatio slipping up behind her.

"Looks like it's going to be the hard way," her boss stated simply, startling the blonde as he quickly cuffed the arm in question. The two men had correctly anticipated Calleigh's reactions. Working in unison, Ryan stepped closer to his partner blocking her as she tried to step away from Horatio, who grabbed her left arm before she could jerk it out of his reach and quickly closed the other cuff around it.

"Come on guys, it's just a little bruise. Alexx doesn't need to know about this." But Calleigh's pleas fell on deaf ears. Both men flanked her as they ushered the ballistics expert down to the morgue.

Alexx was standing with her back facing the door and was in the process of washing her hands when they entered. What the older woman saw when she turned around, managed to morph Alexx's smile into a worried and confused frown.

"What is going on here?" She asked, crossing her arms in front of her. "Please tell me why you have my baby girl handcuffed."

"It's just a big ole misunderstanding Alexx," Calleigh answered quickly, rather too quickly. "Nothing you should worry about." The younger woman finished by flashing Alexx one of her dazzling smiles.

The lab's mother hen narrowed her eyes as her hands migrated down to her hips. Reacting quickly, Ryan stepped behind Horatio who grabbed his ballistic expert's shirt sleeve and tugged it high enough that the bruise was visible. This resulted in the medical examiner raising an eyebrow at the familiar contusion before turning the ferocity of her glare on Calleigh.

"Nothing I should worry about?" The younger woman winced at the anger in Alexx's tone. "You have a bruise that doesn't heal within the normal time frame and think that it's nothing to worry about. Do you have a medical degree?" Calleigh wisely stayed silent but shook her head 'no'. "I didn't think so."

Ryan's eyebrows shot upwards, but he made no move to emerge from his spot behind Horatio. He watched as Alexx marched over to where Calleigh was standing and reached into her pants pocket. When the medical examiner withdrew her hand, it was firmly grasping the ballistic expert's cell phone. Swiftly, Alexx flipped the phone open and dialed a number she knew by heart. Her guests threw the older woman questioning looks as Alexx made the call. The medical examiner simply held up a single finger as she put the call on speakerphone. After a couple of rings, a cheerful voice answered.

"Dr. Cates office, this is Jessica speaking. How may I help you?"

"Yes, this is Alexx Woods. I would like to set up an appointment for a friend of mine."

"Is this person a new patient or have we seen them before?" The receptionist asked.

"She's new." Alexx told the woman on the other end. Calleigh opened her mouth to protest, but the glare that her adopted mother shot her silenced any possible protests.

"We have an opening for next Friday at two. What is the patient's name?"

"Her name is Calleigh Duquesne. The last name is spelled D-u-q-u-e-s-n-e."

"All right, I have her marked down. Since Ms. Duquesne is a new patient, she will need to arrive an hour early and have her insurance card with her."

"She'll be there. Thank you, Sweetie." Ending the call, the medical examiner closed the phone and turned her attention back to the woman she considered to be her daughter. Alexx waited until Calleigh was looking her square in the eyes before she spoke.

"You will go to that appointment. This is not up for discussion. Do not even think about canceling or rescheduling it. If that happens, I will make another appointment for you. After which, you will stay with my family. Additionally, we will make sure that you are not left alone until you have been to see the doctor. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," the ballistics expert answered quickly yet sincerely.

"Horatio, dear, un-cuff my baby, please."

Once Calleigh was free of the restraints, she rubbed her wrists restoring the circulation to them. It was only after feeling returned to her hands and the older woman's back was turned, that Calleigh glared at the two men. Additionally, in a moment of childishness, she stuck her tongue out at Ryan.

"Alexx!" He called out. When the medical examiner turned around, the Louisiana native was doing her best to look innocent.

"Calleigh, there are times when you can pull the innocent routine off, but this isn't one of them." Ryan retorted before he could reign in his tongue. The blonde dramatically held her hand to her chest acting hurt. This proved to be too much for Horatio. He snorted at Calleigh's antics before he could stop himself. When the three of them turned to look at him, as if to verify that they had indeed heard what they had thought that they had heard, a blush was creeping up that rivaled his hair. As if they were a single entity, the four of them started laughing.

"So… so that's why… why we've never heard you laugh so freely," Ryan managed to gasp out between bouts of laughter.

"Don't worry Handsome, your… your secret is safe with us." Calleigh added, holding her sides. Once she had caught her breath, the younger woman turned around to face her adopted mother. "Alexx, may I please have my phone back now?"

"Sure thing, Sugar," the older woman replied placing the cell phone in her palm.

"Come on, let's see what we can find out about this cold case," the younger woman replied as she grabbed her partner's wrist dragging him out of the morgue. The trace expert looked over at Alexx and managed to mouth the word help before he was unceremoniously yanked out of the doorway.

"Kids these days," Alexx commented, still chuckling.

"And on that note, I need to get back to the mountains of paperwork that are taking up residence on my desk."

"All right, take care Honey." The medical examiner gave the redhead a smile and a small pat on his shoulder. "You really should laugh more. You have a… a nice laugh." Horatio blushed once more as he made a hasty exit out of the morgue. Alexx's face broke out into a huge smile as she watched the retreating figure.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 2/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

On Friday, Calleigh found herself at the doctor's office an hour and fifteen minutes before her scheduled appointment time. She wasn't about to risk finding out if Alexx would carry out her threat. It took nearly thirty minutes for her to complete the necessary paperwork for her file and get copies of her insurance cards made. Five minutes later, Calleigh was bored and wishing that she had brought along some reading material with her. Instead, the young woman scanned the waiting room until her eyes came to rest on a hunting and fishing magazine. Sighing loudly, she walked over and picked it up. Returning to her chair, she sat down and began to read.

The ballistics expert had just finished an article that covered hunting rifles when she heard a couple of voices getting louder as they approached. Quickly closing the magazine, Calleigh was ready when the door opened and the nurse led her to one of the exam rooms. She had just taken a seat on the exam table when there came a soft knock on the door.

"Come in."

The nurse that entered the exam room was not at all what Calleigh had expected. In her line of work, making assumptions without evidence was bad and she knew it. It still wasn't enough to stop the blonde from expecting to see an older woman. It was certainly a shock when the nurse turned out to be a handsome young man. Calleigh wasn't sure how, but she managed to keep herself calm while he checked her pulse and took her blood pressure.

"You do seem to be running a low grade fever." He informed her after removing the thermometer from his patient's mouth and quickly jotting the figures down into the chart. When he was finished, he closed the folder and placed it in the rack on the front of the door. "Dr. Cates will be in to see you shortly," he said softly, closing the door behind him.

True to the nurse's words, ten minutes later, there came another knock on the door. Calleigh's eyebrows skyrocketed when the doctor entered the room. '_What is with all the handsome men today?'_ she thought to herself. His complexion was slightly darker than Eric's and he was slightly taller as well. What really caught her attention were his eyes. They were the color of melted chocolate.

"Ms. Duquesne? I'm doctor David O. Cates." He said, after clearing his throat, before shaking her hand. "And yes, I am aware that my initials spell Doc," he added after noticing her raised eyebrows. Calleigh grinned at the comment and watched as Dr. Cates pulled a rolling stool out of its hiding place and took a seat. After pushing a lock of unruly black hair off of his face, he began to review her chart.

"I see that your main complaint is that you have a bruise that hasn't healed. There are a few conditions that could cause this particular symptom." Dr. Cates explained as he made some notes in the file. "Can you explain to me how you injured yourself and how long it has been since the incident occurred?"

"All right, I can do that. It's been close to a month, if not over since it happened. I was chasing a suspect in a warehouse where he worked and had just caught up to him when he shoved me into a stack of crates. My right arm slammed into the corner of a broken crate." As an afterthought she added, "We did get him in the end though." The young man grinned at his patient as he quickly scribbled down the information that had been relayed to him.

"Now, let's see this stubborn bruise shall we?" The comment earned the doctor a small smile as Calleigh slowly rolled up her sleeve. Dr. Cates carefully examined the area where the mark was before making some additional notes.

When he had finished, Dr. Cates looked Calleigh in the eyes. He held the blonde's gaze for a full minute before he spoke. This time, his tone was deadly serious. "I was telling you the truth when I said that there could be several reasons as to why the contusion on your arm hasn't healed. Some of the possibilities include but are not limited to diabetes, low iron due to anemia, and even some types of cancer. I need you to be completely honest with me. Have you been suffering from any other symptoms?"

It was as if her mind was a gate that had been locked and cancer was the key that unlocked it. With the barrier open, there was nothing to stop the flood of thoughts that began racing through her mind. For a few minutes, she was unable to process any of them. Gradually the flood subsided, and Calleigh found herself struggling to remember if any of her relatives had a history of cancer. She couldn't think of any, though if her father kept drinking that could change.

Calleigh jumped when she felt a hand upon her arm. Looking up, the criminalist saw that her doctor was looking at her with a concerned look on his face. Once Dr. Cates was sure that he once again had his patient's full attention, he repeated his question. As much as it pained her to do so, Calleigh nodded her head 'yes' and admitted that she had.

"When this all began, I thought that maybe I'd caught the flu. There were a few times where I had a slight temperature. I've also been tired more than usual and it's starting to interfere with my job. I'm finding it harder to stay awake unless I'm actually doing something that is keeping me busy. Lastly, my appetite has completely disappeared." Dr. Cates was frowning by the time Calleigh had finished listing her symptoms and she immediately knew that it wasn't a good sign. As she watched him write some more notes in her chart, Calleigh realized that she was once again chewing on her hair.

"Have you lost weight recently?"

"I'm afraid so," Calleigh reluctantly admitted.

If possible, Dr. Cates eyes narrowed even further as he reached down into the front pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a small tablet. "I'm going to order some blood tests. We need them in order to correctly diagnose the problem." He quickly scribbled something on the tablet, before tearing out the page and handing it to his patient. "Give this to Michael on your way out."

"Michael?"

"Michael is the nurse that took your vitals before I came in."

"Oh, okay."

"He's going to draw some blood and we'll let you know when the results come in. Most likely, it will take somewhere between a week to ten days before we hear anything." Calleigh nodded her head and shook the doctor's hand as she stood up.

When Michael had finished drawing her blood, he skillfully wrapped her arm with gauze. "I know that you're probably ready to get out of here, but its best if you rest a few minutes first. Your body needs the time to adjust to losing the blood." Calleigh waited until she was sure that the nurse was gone before standing up. Almost as soon as she had stood up, her ears began to ring and felt as if they were stopped up. Her vision was also dimming as the room she was in began to grow dark. Calleigh was faced with a choice. She could either remain standing only to pass out, or she could stop being so stubborn and listen to Michael's advice. Choosing the latter option, the blonde returned to the chair that she had previously occupied. This time, Calleigh allowed herself to rest for about ten minutes before using the chair's armrests to slowly stand. When Calleigh was sure that she wasn't going to pass out, the blonde grabbed her things, left the small room she was in, and exited the building.

Once Calleigh was safely inside the hummer and had it cranked, she glanced down at her watch. If she wanted to, the ballistics expert could still make it in and work a couple of hours before her shift ended. On any other day, Calleigh would have done just that. However, after the appointment, Calleigh wasn't ready to face any of her friends not to mention that she was also exhausted. Since she had taken the whole day off, which was Horatio's idea in the first place, she pulled out of the parking spot and drove home.

Her cell phone began ringing at the exact moment when Calleigh pulled into the driveway. After putting the vehicle in park, she took a look at her phone's caller ID. It was Alexx. Instead of answering, she turned the irritating device off. Quickly unlocking the door and slipping inside, Calleigh kicked off her shoes and locked the door behind her. Ignoring the blinking lights, which informed Calleigh that she had messages, she placed her purse down beside the phone and locked away her gun. Once that was accomplished, she slowly trudged upstairs. By the time she made it to her bedroom, the young woman was practically dead on her feet. Calleigh slowly made her way over to her bed, which looked mighty inviting, and flopped down. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

It was late the next morning before Calleigh woke up. When she looked over at her clock, it was a shock to see that it was almost noon. Thankful that it was her day off, Calleigh stretched before climbing out of bed.

The young woman couldn't remember the last time that she had slept through the alarm. It was almost four when she arrived home the day before.

Shaking her head, Calleigh yawned as she washed up and changed into a fresh set of clothing. It was a little after noon by the time her morning routine had been completed.

She was just about to check the messages on her answering machine when there was a soft knock on her door.

After looking through the peephole, Calleigh smiled as she opened the door. It was hardly a surprise to see Alexx standing there, holding a pot of chicken noodle soup.

"I was worried when I didn't hear back from you yesterday." She explained. "I just wanted to make sure that you were all right. I also brought you some homemade soup.

Calleigh stepped back, as she opened the door wider. "Come on in, Alexx. I'm sorry that I didn't call you. It was just that I was so tired that, as soon as I arrived home, I went straight to bed. I didn't even think about checking the answering machine."

"Shush now. Don't you worry about it, Sugar. You haven't been feeling well, so it's to be expected. Why don't you go on into the living room and have a seat? While you do that, I'll go fix you a bowl of soup."

Although she wasn't hungry, Calleigh knew better than to protest. A few minutes later, she found herself sitting on her couch thumbing through the TV Guide while Alexx made herself at home in Calleigh's kitchen.

After a while, the older woman eventually emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray that held a bowl of soup, a glass of orange juice, and a few pieces of toast. Standing in front of her charge, Alexx placed the tray on her adopted daughter's lap and gave her the look.

Calleigh had never been one for soup when she was sick. As a young child, whenever she was ill her parents had usually given her hot chocolate. About the only time that there was soup had been when the entire family was under the weather and, even then, usually it was the cheap kind from a can.

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of the medical examiner's wrath a second time, Calleigh complied. After taking the first spoonful, she was betrayed by her stomach when it growled loudly. She was surprised at how delicious the soup was and, before she knew it, ended up eating the rest of what was in the bowl.

Alexx watched the younger woman for a few minutes to make sure that she was going to continue eating. Once she was satisfied, Alexx disappeared back into the kitchen. When Calleigh brought her the tray, the older woman quickly took it before ushering her out of the room. Once Calleigh was back in the living room, Alexx went back to washing the dishes.

Since she was evidently banned from the kitchen, Calleigh decided to check her answering machine. Pushing play on the machine, the blonde discovered that there were six unheard messages.

'Calleigh, its Alexx. How did your appointment go?'

'Congratulations, you have been pre-approved for a credit card from Liberty Coast,' Not even bothering to listen to the rest of the message, Calleigh rolled her eyes and hit delete.

'Hey, Calleigh, this is Eric. I heard you went to the doctor. Hope everything is okay.'

'It's Horatio. I'm just calling to see how you are doing? Also, if you need any more time off just let me know.'

'Are you happy with your current car insurance company?' Once more, the blonde found herself deleting the message from the device before it could complete its annoying message.

'Hey Cal, Ryan here. Just wanted to know how things went. Give me a call if you feel up to it. Talk to ya later.'

When Alexx emerged from the kitchen a short time later, she saw that Calleigh was sound asleep. Smiling, the older woman took the afghan from a neighboring chair and tucked it around the sleeping woman. Once finished, Alexx let herself out of the house, closing the door and locking it behind her.

* * *

It was early Sunday morning, when Calleigh next woke up. The blonde was content to just lie there. She vaguely remembered getting up to use the restroom during the night, so she figured that she must have returned to her bedroom out of habit. Less than ten minutes later, Calleigh had her answer as to what had woke her up.

It was her stomach that had woken her up. It was growling for the first time in weeks, which Calleigh took as a good sign. She used her legs to push the covers off of her bed and onto the floor. Calleigh made a mental note to pick the covers up later, but she was too busy focusing on gathering up her energy before rolling out of bed.

After washing up, Calleigh headed downstairs to the kitchen. Her trained eyes were instantly drawn to the refrigerator where there was a note, which hadn't been there the day before. Quickly walking over to the fridge, she grabbed the two sheets of paper.

Sugar,

I just wanted to let you know that I washed the dishes for you. Also, since you were asleep, I let myself out. On the next page, there are instructions for warming up the soup.

Love,

Alexx

Smiling to herself, Calleigh set about fixing herself a bowl of the soup following the instructions to the letter. After she had eaten, Calleigh quickly washed and dried the bowl and spoon that were used. She didn't want another mountain of dirty dishes to form. When that was done, Calleigh headed for her office where she proceeded to write a thank you note to the lab's mother hen.

Dear Alexx,

Thank you so much for the soup. I was surprised at how good it was. I was also wondering if you could share the recipe with me please? Also, you really didn't have to wash those dishes. However, since you did it is very much appreciated. Sorry about falling asleep on you.

Love,

Calleigh

Chewing on the top of her pen, Calleigh debated on which address to send it to. After a few minutes, she finally made up her mind. Calleigh figured that Alexx would probably get the letter quicker if it was sent to her at the lab.

Glancing down at her watch, Calleigh was surprised to learn that it was only just a little past nine. Sitting back down at her desk, she started making a list of what she needed to get accomplished by Friday once the energy to do so was found. Calleigh had to admit that she did have more energy than what she had been having, but it was nowhere close to her normal levels.

* * *

Catching a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, Calleigh turned her head to look. What had grabbed her attention was her next door neighbor's small tortoiseshell cat that was slowly making its way up the tree while its branches were lazily blowing in the gentle breeze. Calleigh spent the next several minutes watching the leaves dance in the wind.

As she watched the rhythmic motion of the leaves, the itch to get out of the house and do something began to stir inside her. Normally when this happened, the ballistics expert would hop in her car and drive down to the firing range where she would get some target practice in. This time, however, was different. She just didn't feel up to driving to the range. As Calleigh looked out the window, it was as if the leaves were beckoning her to come outside and spend some time with them.

Falling under the spell of the swirling leaves, Calleigh decided to go for a walk. It had been ages since she had voluntarily went on a long walk. Calleigh quickly slid into her favorite pair of Nikes. They were old and worn, but they were still very comfortable. She then grabbed her keys as she slipped out the door, locking it behind her.

Not having a destination in mind, Calleigh set a slow pace for herself and took off. It wasn't long before the young woman found herself heading towards the park. When she arrived, Calleigh scanned the area before making her way towards an empty bench and took a seat. The young woman smiled, as she watched the children laughing and playing.

Suddenly, she jumped as something cold pressed itself into her hand. Instinctively jerking her hand out of the way, Calleigh looked down and saw her other neighbor's black Labrador retriever staring up at her with his brown eyes. He was giving her a pleading look, carrying a tennis ball coated with slobber in his mouth.

"Hey there," Calleigh said, reaching down to scratch him between the ears. The simple gesture set his tail in motion. If there had been anything on the bench beside her, it would have been swept off by the dog's long tail.

"Dakota! There you are. I've been looking all over for you." At the sound of his owner's voice, Dakota turned around so that his tail was thumping against Calleigh's knee.

"Hey Mark, how are things out your way?" She asked before Dakota plopped the ball onto her lap, and began nudging her hand. Giving in to the dog's wishes, Calleigh threw the ball before wiping the slobber off of her hands and onto her jeans.

"They're going okay. Things can be better, but they can also be worse, you know. What about you Calleigh, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing good, just needed to get out of the house."

"Good to hear. Listen, I hate to run but I need to get this oaf home."

"That's all right, I need to head home myself. Hope I'll see you guys later."

"Sure thing, Blondie." When the nickname was brought up, Calleigh made a face before playfully punching her neighbor in the shoulder. This action earned her a bark of laughter from Mark as he clipped the leash back onto Dakota's collar. Waving good-bye, the two of them parted ways.

Calleigh was exhausted by the time she finally made it back to her house. She had to admit that getting out of the house, even if it wasn't for very long, did her some good.

After resting for a few minutes, Calleigh set about getting her things ready for work the next day. Once she was finished with that, even though she could barely keep her eyes open, the ballistics expert took a seat and began to clean her gun.

* * *

Calleigh returned to work on Monday and her friends instantly knew that she was feeling better. The sparkle had returned to her eyes and she was smiling more. The lab techs could be heard saying that they had missed seeing her smile, and her teammates also shared that feeling.

At lunchtime, Calleigh was in the break room warming up her lunch in the microwave when she was joined by Horatio and Ryan. The two of them took a seat so that when Calleigh returned to her seat, she was seated between the two men.

Once the soup was finished cooking in the microwave, Calleigh took a seat between her coworkers. A few minutes later, Eric joined them taking the seat across from Calleigh. Out of habit, he reached over to grab one of her chips and was surprised when Ryan smacked his hand. Risking a glance over at Horatio, he was surprised to be on the receiving end of H's piercing gaze.

"Sorry," he replied, holding up his hands. This earned a chuckle from Calleigh, and the four crime scene investigators spent the rest of their lunch break talking.

When Calleigh announced that she was full, Ryan reached over and grabbed her lunch bag.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Just making sure that you ate all of your lunch," he replied nonchalantly.

Rolling her eyes, Calleigh waited until Ryan had finished examining her discarded lunch bag before poking him in the shoulder. When she didn't get a response, the blonde poked him again although harder this time.

"Hey!" He yelped, rubbing his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"Just trying to get your attention."

"Well, you have it."

"Good." Calleigh replied with a smile, before leaning closer to her partner and opening her mouth in his face. "See, I even swallowed." Then, she stood, gathered up her garbage, and left leaving a blushing Ryan with a laughing Eric and a smirking lieutenant.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 3/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Although the majority of the crime lab's employees were happy that Calleigh was feeling better, there was one that didn't share their opinion.

The newest janitor was furiously scrubbing at the floor with her mop, when she heard the click of heels coming down the hall. "Hope you fall," the woman muttered under her breath when she saw who was heading her way.

Calleigh did not fall, but was instead carefully maneuvering down the wet hallway.

"Well, look who decided to show up and do some work for a change," the janitor remarked.

Calleigh just gave the woman one of her dazzling smiles. "Good morning to you too, Ms. Boa Vista," the blonde replied as she turned the corner.

Once the criminalist was out of sight, Natalia kicked the bucket of water that she had been using creating an even bigger mess. The former lab tech couldn't see why everyone liked Calleigh, and she couldn't even file a complaint to the higher-ups because the ballistics expert had never been anything but polite to her.

"Hey, you missed a spot!" Natalia glared at Cooper who wisely retreated back into the safety of his audiovisual lab.

* * *

During the next week, the team of CSIs was kept rather busy with a sudden rise in the crime rate. It seemed as if for every crime they solved, two more occurred in its place. Since work was keeping them busy, Calleigh forgot about the tests that Dr. Cates was having run. Since she had forgotten about them, she wasn't spending her time worrying about what the results would say when they came back. Instead, Calleigh was able to focus all of her attention on doing her job.

* * *

On Friday, Calleigh and Ryan were just finishing up at a crime scene in the Everglades when her cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, Calleigh saw that it was Dr. Cates' office. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she walked around to the far side of the coroner's van for some privacy before answering it. "Hello."

'Is Calleigh Duquesne there?' The caller asked.

"This is she."

'Hi. This is Jess from Dr. Cates' office. I was calling to let you know that the results from the blood tests have come in. Dr. Cates would like to see you as soon as possible. He has an opening for today at four-thirty. Can you make it?'

"I think so." The blonde answered, after she had checked her watch to see what time it was.

'Great, I'll go ahead and pencil you in.'

"If I'm unable to make it, I'll call and let you know." With that, Calleigh ended the call.

When she emerged from her spot behind the van, Calleigh was a couple of shades paler.

"Hey Cal, who was…" Ryan started to ask but stopped when he saw her. Switching gears, her partner asked a different question. "Are you okay?"

When she walked past him, Ryan realized that Calleigh hadn't heard him. He started to go after her, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. When the trace expert turned around to see who had stopped him, Ryan was surprised to find that it was Horatio. His hazel eyes looked questioningly into his boss' deep blue ones. Before he could voice his question, the redhead spoke.

"Just watch and wait."

Ryan took a step backwards so that he was standing beside Horatio and they watched the retreating blonde. The two men did not have long to wait. As the two CSIs watched, Alexx opened the door of the van and took off after Calleigh.

"Come on Mr. Wolfe, we need to get the evidence back to the lab."

"What about Calleigh?" Ryan asked as he was ushered to the passenger side of the hummer.

"Don't worry Ryan, Alexx will take good care of her and see that she gets back to the crime lab safely.

* * *

After seeing how pale the younger woman was when she had finished her call, Alexx knew that she had made the right decision in staying.

"Sorry," the older woman told the victim in the body bag. "I'll be back after I make sure that my baby is okay."

She quickly opened the door and jumped out. In the time between spotting Calleigh walking off at a hurried pace and exiting the van, the ballistics expert was nowhere to be found.

"That girl can sure move when she wants to." Alexx muttered under her breath as she watched Horatio and Ryan pull away in the Hummer.

With a determined gait, the medical examiner took off in the direction that the blonde had last been seen heading in. A few minutes later, the older woman came to a stop and looked around.

"Gotcha," Alexx whispered with a smile when she noticed where the grass was slightly depressed. Following the evidence led her to where Calleigh was sitting on the ground with her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Sugar?" The mother hen questioned.

It was obvious to the older woman that she hadn't been heard. Calleigh continued staring into space.

The medical examiner quickly covered the remaining distance between the two of them, and put her hand on Calleigh's shoulder which resulted in the blonde giving a surprised shout and jumping slightly. Alexx took a seat on the ground across from her adopted daughter.

"Baby Girl, what's wrong?"

"It's n…" Calleigh was not given the chance to finish the sentence.

"Don't you dare sit there and tell me that 'it's nothing' or 'I'm fine'." The younger woman quickly closed her mouth, but Alexx wasn't through.

"If it was nothing, a phone call would not cause you to become a couple of shades paler and it certainly wouldn't make you run off. Also, it's normally very difficult to startle you. Honey, you have friends that are worried and want to be there for you. Now, I want you to stop being so stubborn for a change and tell me exactly what is going on with you."

When the older woman had finished her lecture, Calleigh found herself telling Alexx everything that had happened from the day she went to the doctor up until the phone call that she had just received wanting her to come in as soon as possible. The medical examiner quickly pulled her into a tight hug and held her close.

"Come on Sugar, let's get back to the lab. I'm going to call in a favor from the swing-shift coroner." The M.E. took a few steps before she realized that the younger woman wasn't following her. The blonde was still sitting on the ground, looking puzzled.

"Why?" Calleigh quietly asked.

"Because I'm going to take you to the doctor, of course."

The older woman quickly walked over and pulled Calleigh to her feet. Before the younger woman could open her mouth to protest, she was stopped by a raised eyebrow. Calleigh knew better than to argue with Alexx when she was in full-blown mother hen mode.

As the two ladies walked back to the van, Alexx pulled out her phone and dialed a number. Calleigh quickly opened the passenger side door and climbed in. She couldn't help but smile when the older woman sat down in the driver's seat, giving the person on the other end of the conversation a piece of her mind. The blonde listened to one side of the heated conversation for an additional fifteen minutes.

"I'm glad that you finally saw my point of view. Yes, I am taking one of my kids to the doctor and no I am not trying to get out of doing the autopsy." Alexx said, glaring at the phone as if the person on the other end of the call could actually see her. "Maybe you can reschedule that date." She said sweetly, as she ended the call. This earned her a raised eyebrow from her passenger, who quickly caught the phone when it was tossed at her.

By the time the last two members of the team made it back to the crime lab, it was already five after two. If the traffic cooperated, it would take at least an hour and a half to get to the doctor's office.

As they entered the lab, Alexx turned to face Calleigh. "Honey, why don't you go and get what you need from your locker. While you're doing that, I'm going to let Horatio know that we are taking the rest of the day off and where we are going to be. I'll meet you back at the hummer in ten minutes."

"Okay." Calleigh agreed, as she handed the keys over to the M.E. After giving Alexx a quick hug, the blonde hurried off towards the locker room. Neither woman noticed a curious Natalia watching the two of them intensely before arching one eyebrow and marching off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Ryan was just leaving the locker room when his partner was entering. "Are you okay?" He asked, his voice tinged with concern.

"To tell you the truth Ryan, I'm not sure." Calleigh admitted. "I'll let you know later."

Ryan paused as if he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. Instead, he watched as his partner made her way over to her locker. With a smile, he turned and casually walked away.

Calleigh entered the combination to her lock and opened it. She was surprised to find a book inside of her locker that had not been there that morning. The ballistics expert pulled the book out and stared at the title. It was The Shooter's Guide to Classic Firearms.

When she opened the book, a slip of paper fell to the ground. The blonde bent down and picked it up. After unfolding it, she saw that it was a note from Ryan.

Calleigh,

You are the sister that I never had, but always wanted. I saw this the other night when I was shopping at Wal-Mart and immediately thought of you. When I showed it to H, he thought that it would be a good idea to surprise you with the book. After making me promise to only use it to place the book inside your locker, he gave me the key. Don't give me that look, I didn't touch anything. I promise. Hope that the book brightens your day just a little.

Ryan

Calleigh smiled as she quickly stuffed the note back into her book. The blonde then grabbed her purse as she hurried off to meet up with Alexx.

The criminalist made a mental note to ask Ryan how he managed to convince Horatio to let him borrow the keys. H had never let Calleigh or anyone else borrow them.

* * *

Alexx already had the vehicle started and was in the driver's seat by the time Calleigh returned. The blonde quickly jumped in and buckled up.

The younger woman was grateful that the M.E. had the air conditioner turned on and the radio off. She wasn't in the mood for any kind of music.

It wasn't long before the moving vehicle was casting its spell on Calleigh. Every once in a while, when she could spare a moment, Alexx would cast a worried glance over at her sleeping passenger.

The two women arrived at the doctor's office with close to thirty minutes to spare. After parking the hummer, Alexx gently placed her hand on Calleigh's shoulder.

"Calleigh?" She questioned.

When she didn't receive a response, the older woman gently shook the blonde's shoulder. When her sleeping passenger finally began to stir and opened her eyes, the older woman tried again.

"Honey, we're here."

When she heard that, Calleigh wiped the sleep from her eyes as she gathered up her things.

Upon entering the waiting room, Calleigh quickly signed in and paid her co-payment. After which, she took a seat next to Alexx and began to look through the book that Ryan had given her.

The book wasn't very detailed, but it was still interesting. Classic military rifles were covered in the first section. The ballistic expert had just finished reading the information on the U.S. Springfield .45-70 Trapdoor rifle when she heard someone calling her name. When the blonde looked up, she saw that it was the young nurse who was holding the door open.

"Do you want me to go back with you?" Alexx leaned over and asked Calleigh before she stood up. The blonde was silent for a few seconds before she finally nodded her head 'yes'.

The two women were led back to an exam room which was familiar to Calleigh. It was the same room that the ballistics expert had been in the last time she had been there.

"Dr. Cates will be in to see you shortly." The nurse kindly informed them, after she had checked Calleigh's vital signs. Once she had finished and recorded the figures into the chart, the nurse left the room closing the door behind her. To the blonde, the click when the door shut was deafening.

The last time that Calleigh had been in this particular room, she had had to wait for a few minutes before Dr. Cates had knocked on the exam room door. This time, however, was different. If it weren't for the fact that the corridor had been free of anyone except for the occasional nurse, she would have thought that Dr. Cates had been standing right outside the door. When Calleigh looked down at her watch to check the time, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come on in," the blonde said in response to the knock. Although to the casual observer it looked as if she were calm, this was most certainly not the case. Calleigh was a nervous wreck.

The ballistics expert was doing all that she could to be still. Calleigh felt as if she had swallowed a cupful of live crickets that were now jumping about trying their best to escape. The blonde was afraid that if she moved too much, she would vomit.

"Quit chewing on your hair young lady!" The older woman whispered loudly at the young woman as the door slowly opened.

Calleigh was not aware of the fact that she had been chewing on her hair until Alexx had mentioned it. The blonde quickly pulled the strand out of her mouth and tucked it behind her ear.

"How are you doing today?" Dr. Cates asked as he walked in carrying her chart.

"I feel better than I did last week." Calleigh replied, as she gave him a small smile. "Although, I'm nowhere close to being one hundred percent yet."

"And the main reason is because you finally ate something." Alexx chided gently, motherly concern clearly evident in her voice.

"Why am I not surprised?" Dr. Cates said with a smile, when he heard the familiar voice. He turned around and gave the older woman a hug. "Still collecting kids?" He asked, with a smirk.

"You should know David, you're one of them." Alexx spoke softly patting him on his shoulder.

Calleigh wasn't surprised at the fact that the two of them knew each other. After all, the older woman had practically recommended him that day in the morgue when she had made that appointment. What had surprised Calleigh was that her new doctor had been adopted by Alexx and she hadn't known about it.

The blonde was content to let her doctor and Alexx catch up with each other. She tried to silently scoot backwards closer to the wall, but the paper protecting the exam table gave her away. When the older woman shot her a look, the ballistics expert winced causing Dr. Cates to chuckle.

"You haven't changed a bit, Alexx."

The young doctor relished the relaxed atmosphere, because he knew how fast it would change once he delivered the news. Dr. Cates watched Alexx and Calleigh for a few minutes before forcing himself into a more detached and professional demeanor. As hard as this conversation always was, it was even harder given that it was happening to someone who Alexx cared deeply about. He slowly took in a deep breath before letting it out just as slowly.

"Has there been any change regarding the bruise?" Dr. Cates asked Calleigh, after clearing his throat and opening her chart.

"There hasn't been any change. Or if there has been, it wasn't enough for me to notice."

"I see." The doctor replied as he was busy scribbling something into her chart. "Roll up your sleeve so that I can take a look."

Reluctantly, the blonde tugged on her sleeve to reveal the single blemish marring her forearm. Calleigh winced slightly as Dr. Cates pressed lightly on the bruise.

"Did that hurt?" He asked.

"No, it felt good. I just winced for the fun of it. Here's your sign." Calleigh replied shooting him an irritated look as she rubbed her arm. The comment earned her a smack on her leg from Alexx.

"Sorry," the blonde replied not looking the least bit apologetic.

"Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I could have phrased that question better."

The young man dropped the chart on the exam table and the sound seemed to be deafening. The doctor looked his patient in the eyes, making sure that he had her complete attention before he spoke once more. When he did, his voice was serious with not a single trace of the light-hearted tone that had been present when the young man spotted Alexx.

"The results from your blood tests have come back. Your white blood count was high."

Alexx was unable to suppress a gasp when that information was revealed. Meanwhile, Calleigh was speechless. Even though she did not have a medical degree, the blonde knew what that meant.

"Also, there were immature, nonlymphocyte white cells found in the blood sample." Doctor Cates continued after the brief pause from his earlier statement in which he allowed the words to sink in.

"So…" The ballistics expert started to say, but the words had vanished. The older woman quickly sat down next to her baby and pulled her into a tight hug. The simple action gave the blonde the strength that she needed to finish asking her question.

"So, it is cancer?" Calleigh whispered. Although she knew it was illogical, she felt as if voicing the question would somehow have an effect on how the physician would answer her.

"Yes." He always hated this part. In his opinion, this was the worst part of the profession.

"I do need to have a couple more tests run in order to determine the type of cancer that we are dealing with. Once we know exactly what we are dealing with then we will have a better idea on how to fight it."

The blonde said nothing, but nodded her head to acknowledge that she had heard him.

"We need to schedule a bone marrow aspiration and a bone marrow trephine biopsy. This facility does not have the necessary equipment to perform these tests." He pulled out a notebook from the pocket of his lab coat and checked his notes before speaking once more. "I can send you to Cedars Medical Center, Miami General Hospital, Dade Memorial, or the University of Miami Hospital and Clinic."

"Miami General." Alexx replied almost before he had finished speaking. If she hadn't been holding the younger woman in a tight hug, the older woman would have missed Calleigh tensing up at the mention of Dade Memorial.

The ballistics expert shot the motherly figure a relieved look. Although Dade Memorial was closer, the medical examiner felt that the blonde didn't need the stressor of remembering Ryan's stay at that hospital added on top of what she was currently going through.

"Both of these procedures can be performed at the same time. In the bone marrow aspiration, a syringe is used to retrieve some bone marrow cells. With the trephine biopsy, a one to two centimeter core of bone marrow is removed in one piece."

Calleigh was trying to listen to what she was being told, but the torrent of thoughts rushing through her mind was making it difficult to pay attention. The ballistics expert knew that if she needed to, she could ask Alexx any questions that she had.

The mother hen seemed to sense that Calleigh wasn't paying attention so she asked the same questions that she would have if it had being either Bryan or Jamie. Once Alexx and Dr. Cates finished their discussion, he handed the older woman the orders for the tests.

"The results should come back approximately one to two weeks from when the procedures were performed." David explained. He then turned his attention back to his patient. The blonde was staring at her hands which were resting on her lap. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Dr. Cates gave Calleigh what support he could provide. He then quickly picked up the chart and left the exam room.

"Honey, why don't you go on out to the parking lot and start the Hummer for me? I'll handle scheduling the tests as well as call Peter and let him know that I'm taking care of one of my babies."

The younger woman said nothing, but held out her right hand while picking up her things with her left. Placing the keys into the open palm, Alexx picked up her purse and held the door open for Calleigh.

"Thanks." The word was barely audible, but the medical examiner heard it just the same.

"Anytime, Sugar."

Alexx waited until the younger woman had left the office building before she called Peter and let him know that she would be late getting home because one of her kids at the lab needed her. Once she was through talking to her husband, Alexx made her way over to the counter. It didn't take the older woman long to get the tests scheduled.

By the time Alexx had entered the parking lot, she was on the phone once more. As she approached the Hummer, she could hear Shania Twain's _Honey I'm Home_ blaring from the vehicle's speakers. The older woman was glad that Calleigh turned the radio down when she saw Alexx approaching.

"I'll see you there." She told the person on the other end, as she climbed into the cab of the Hummer.

The blonde, remained silent, stared out the window during the car ride. In fact, it wasn't until Alexx had missed a turn that Calleigh realized she wasn't being taken home.

"Where are we going?" The younger woman asked, sitting up straighter.

"You'll see."

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 4/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

In a large corner booth at the Good Times Bar and Grill, the three men sat unaware that they were being watched by another patron of the bar. Horatio Caine was sitting calmly between Eric Delko and Ryan Wolfe. Eric was drumming his fingers on the table while, every few minutes, Ryan would get up and look out the window before returning to his seat. Their boss' calm demeanor did nothing to soothe the other men. If anything it made them even more nervous.

The only thing Eric knew was that when Alexx and Calleigh returned from the crime scene, the older woman went straight to H's office but he never saw Cal. Shortly after the M.E. left his office, the lieutenant rounded up the remaining members of his team and told them that they were going out after their shift ended. When Wolfe asked him about Calleigh and Alexx, Horatio told them that the older woman was handling it.

"In other words, Alexx planned this entire outing." Eric had stated before Horatio quickly filled him in on what had happened at the crime scene that morning.

Ryan was just about to get up again when the redhead's cell phone sprang to life. Reaching into his suit coat, H pulled the loud device out.

"Caine."

The lieutenant's face gave nothing away as he talked to whoever it was that had called. The phone call lasted less than five minutes.

"All right, be careful." Horatio told the called before clicking the phone off.

"Gentlemen, that was Alexx. She has Calleigh with her and they are on their way."

"Did she mention anything about the appointment?" Eric questioned his boss. Ryan said nothing since he had been seconds away from asking that very same question.

"All that she told me was that Calleigh is going to need all of her friends pretty soon." H answered cryptically.

The head of the crime lab was saved from any more questions by the arrival of their waitress who refilled their drinks. The three men went ahead and placed their orders since the remaining members of the team were on their way. Horatio also ordered for the absent women since the medical examiner had told him to order her usual and get the same thing for Calleigh.

* * *

Once the Louisiana native realized that she wasn't going home, Calleigh sat up and began to pay closer attention to the route that they were taking.

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!" The blonde exclaimed when she finally realized where they were going.

"Nope."

"Why?" Calleigh half-asked, half-pleaded with the lab's resident mother-hen.

"Calleigh Marie Duquesne!" Alexx exclaimed raising her voice. "There are two reasons why I haven't smacked you for asking such a stupid question. The first being that you are still in shock from what we heard and the other is that I'm currently driving." The older woman took a deep breath herself, before attempting to speak again. When she did, her voice was as calm and soothing as it normally was.

"Sugar, Horatio is your boss and he deserves to know. He is also one of your friends as are Ryan and Eric. They are your friends and as such they deserve to know. Besides, you may need their support before this is finished."

The ballistics expert had to admit to herself that the medical examiner had a point. That didn't mean she had to like it or let the other woman know.

"The guys must have taken a cab since I don't see any of the Hummers." Alexx's voice seemed unusually loud as she pulled into the parking lot of the Good Times Bar and Grill. The next few minutes were spent looking for a parking spot that the huge vehicle could fit in. The task was easier said than done. After a couple more circuits around the lot, the medical examiner finally pulled into the middle of two parallel spaces.

After killing the engine, the older woman quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and exited the vehicle. When she went to close the door, Alexx realized that the firearms expert had made no move to do so.

"Come on, Sugar." The medical examiner's soothing voice seemed to be the trigger that spurred the younger woman into action. Reluctantly, Calleigh followed Alexx into the bar.

The two women spotted two of their teammates almost instantly. Eric and Horatio were seated at the team's usual spot and waved them over. Calleigh was seriously thinking about making a run for the door and the Hummer that was parked outside. However, before she could do anything about that thought, the young woman was pulled into a tight hug by Ryan.

The blonde hugged him back, thinking that she would make her escape as soon as he had released his hold on her. Almost as if he had sensed that she was getting ready to bolt, Ryan kept his arm around Calleigh's shoulder as he steered her towards the back where the others were waiting. Once they were at the booth, the trace expert motioned for her to go on and take a seat. As she slid into the booth, Calleigh realized that she was trapped between her boss and her partner. Alexx was sitting by Eric on the outside, where she could come and go as she pleased. The ballistics expert narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

"What happened at the doctor?" Eric finally blurted out after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Way to be subtle, Sugar." The older woman commented, shooting the man a look.

"What?" He asked, looking mildly exasperated. "I'm worried about her just like the three of you are."

"I know you are, Baby." Alexx replied, placing a hand on his shoulder, her voice having a calming effect.

"Guys, I'm sitting right here."

"Then you can answer Eric's question because it's something that we all want to know the answer to." Ryan replied, folding his arms across his chest. Calleigh was saved from answering by the arrival of their food.

"For the ladies we have grilled chicken sandwiches and sweet tea." The waitress replied as she placed the pates in front of the two women.

"Next, we have a twelve ounce T-bone steak well done with a baked potato."

"That is also known as the piece of edible charcoal." The Russian Cuban replied before the brown haired CSI could raise his hand. Instead of replying, the younger man shot Eric a look as he took his steak from their server.

"Another twelve ounce T-bone cooked medium well with a baked potato." H accepted his steak with a slight nod of his head.

"Last, we have another twelve ounce T-bone cooked medium rare with a side of French fries."

"Careful Eric, I think that I heard it moo." Ryan commented, eyeing the other man's steak while suppressing a shudder.

"Would the two of you cut that out?" The blonde snapped, earning her a disapproving look from Alexx, a raised eyebrow from Horatio, and twin looks of stunned disbelief from the other CSIs. After her uncharacteristic outburst, Calleigh began to pick at the sandwich sitting in front of her.

She knew that she was being watched. The young woman did not have to glance over to her right to verify, she could feel his piercing gaze watching her as she slowly chewed her food. Upon swallowing, Calleigh felt a hand on her shoulder.

"So what happened?" Horatio asked, once he had his subordinate's attention.

"Don't you guys ever give up? The blonde asked, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. H simply arched an eyebrow.

"On second thought, don't answer that. I know that it's not in your vocabulary." Calleigh stared at her napkin as if it was the most interesting one she had ever seen. As if she sensed that her support was needed, Alexx reached across the table and clasped the younger woman's hand.

"First off, until I find out more this goes no farther than you guys." The firearms expert began, drawing strength from the older woman's silent support. The other three CSIs exchanged puzzled glances but agreed to their teammate's request.

"Also…" Calleigh began, but had to stop in order to take a sip of her tea because her throat had suddenly gone dry. "Also, I know that some things are going to have to change but please don't treat me any different. I don't think I could take it if you guys did."

The expressions on the three men's faces slowly morphed from confused to identical worried expressions. This was nothing like the cheerful, confident woman they were used to.

"I have cancer." She blurted out, before a loud crash drew her attention. Eric, who had paled considerably from the news, had knocked his glass of beer off table. For a few minutes, nobody said anything, and their waitress hurried over and began to clean up the broken glass. With everything that was going on, no one noticed the customer in a nearby booth get up and leave with a smile upon their face.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Calleigh whispered, shooting Alexx a pained look. Before the older woman could reply, the waitress stood up and asked if she could get them anything else.

"I think I could use a beer." Ryan said, pushing away the half-empty cup of coffee.

"Cal, it's not you. It's just…" Eric took a deep breath, before he continued. "It's just that Marisol is currently undergoing treatment for cancer." He let the others digest the information, before he took Calleigh's hand out of Alexx's and into his own. "I need you to know that if you need anything, you can ask me."

Ryan took hold of Calleigh's other hand. "You know you can ask me as well."

Since both Calleigh's hands were occupied, Horatio gently squeezed her shoulder as his way of showing his support. "We'll get through this. We'll get through this."

Calleigh was speechless which was unusual for her. She carefully studied each of her friend's faces and saw concerned looks in each one. The ballistics expert didn't see a single look of pity which was what she had been most afraid of.

"Thanks." She managed to whisper. The blonde didn't know what she did to have such good friends and right now she was extremely thankful that she did have them.

"Do you know what type of cancer it is?" Eric asked.

"No, I don't. I have to go to Miami General…" The younger woman started to answer, but her voice trailed off as she looked over at Alexx.

"It's Monday at three-thirty to have some tests on her bone marrow done. The older woman finished for her.

The tight-knit group began talking about how things were going to be at the lab. H told his ballistics expert that she would work on either cold cases or active cases where there was little risk of her getting injured. When the blonde opened her mouth to complain, Horatio simply smiled. He then silenced any objections that she might have had when he made his next statement.

"Just remember, if you do something stupid, you will be confined to the lab."

* * *

The weekend flew by, and before Calleigh knew it, Monday morning was here. She quickly got ready for work glad that her friends had promised that they wouldn't be treating her any different. That had been her biggest fear, once she had discovered the news.

The drive to work was surprisingly uneventful. Calleigh found herself thankful that the other drivers were paying attention so that there was not a single wreck to be found on her morning commute.

The crime scene investigator first noticed that something was amiss the moment she entered the crime lab's main lobby. She kept getting the feeling that she was being watched, but whenever she turned her head no one was looking at her. In fact, they were looking everywhere but at her. Calleigh soon found herself glancing up at the ceiling to see if she could discover what was so interesting about it.

The elevator ride wasn't much better. The blonde was grateful when it finally emptied out except for her and one other person.

"How are you feeling?" Valera asked.

"I've been better. I've been worse." Calleigh answered vaguely just as the elevator pinged signaling the other occupant's stop.

"If there is anything you need, and I do mean anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Just when Calleigh was beginning to think that the elevator doors were stuck on open, they finally started to close. As much as she didn't want too, the blonde knew what she needed to do. Although she would rather have had a root canal than do what she was about to do.

Pulling out her cell phone, she called her boss to let him know what she was planning. Horatio wasn't thrilled, but he understood why his ballistics expert was doing it. Calleigh could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose as if that would make the oncoming headache go away. After ending the call with H, she reluctantly punched in the second number. Just as she was finishing up her last call, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

Calleigh quickly slid the phone into her pocket as she stepped off the lift. After which, she maneuvered the halls until she found Ryan. He was back in the trace lab running some tests for a few cold cases.

"Need any help?" She asked, poking her head into the lab.

"Only if you want to." He replied without looking up from what he was working on.

The blonde slipped inside and pulled on her lab coat. Once Ryan had filled her in on what tests he was running, the two of them got to work. The two crime scene investigators worked well together and the time flew by. Before she knew it, an hour had passed and there came a knock on the lab's door. Looking up, Calleigh saw that it was Rick Stetler. Ryan narrowed his eyes when the man opened the door and poked his head in.

"Wonder what he wants?" The young man muttered under his breath.

"You wanted to see me."

"More like needed to, than wanted to." The ballistics expert corrected as she finished up what she was doing, ignoring the surprised look on her partner's face.

"Let's discuss this in Lieutenant Caine's office. I suppose he knows that you called me."

"Yes, he does know." Calleigh took a deep breath. "Before we go, would it be okay if Alexx, Ryan, and Eric join us?" She asked.

The IAB officer opened his mouth and the blonde thought for sure that he was about to refuse her request. Instead, what he said surprised her.

"I think that it would be a good idea." Calleigh and Ryan exchanged confused looks. It was weird to see Stetler acting remotely human. The older man then turned his attention to the room's other occupant.

"Call the others and tell them to meet us in the lieutenant's office." He then left the trace lab, motioning for Calleigh to follow him. The short walk to H's office was filled with the curious stares of her coworkers.

Horatio was waiting for them. Calleigh could see him standing in the doorway of his office with his hands placed on his hips. His ever present sunglasses set firmly in place. The redhead stepped aside to allow them into the room. Ryan joined them a few minutes later.

"The others are on their way."

Stetler said nothing, but acknowledged Ryan with a slight nod of his head. Alexx arrived about the same time that Eric did. Once they had joined the group in the office, Horatio closed the blinds so that there was some semblance of privacy in the fishbowl of an office.

"So what's this about?" The IAB sergeant asked.

_Think of it as a Band-Aid_, the blonde thought to herself as she walked over and stood beside H.

"I have cancer." She found herself blurting out once more. Calleigh caught a glimpse of Eric giving her a slight shake of his head as if he thought what she was doing was a bad idea. She saw the IAB officer open his mouth before quickly closing it again. It was as if he had actually thought before speaking. "I guess there is a first time for everything," she muttered to herself, still feeling defensive.

"Thank you for telling me this Calleigh." Stetler said, running his hand through his hair, looking slightly nervous. He hid that fact rather quickly. "You have the full support of this lab. I have heard a few rumors that you did have cancer, but I am glad that you've come to me. Do you know which type you have been diagnosed with and how long have you known about it?"

Rick Stetler was speaking calmly and choosing his words carefully. Even he knew that this was not something to antagonize Horatio or his crew with. Besides, his mother had suffered from cancer and he knew that Calleigh would need all the support she could get.

Before Calleigh could answer the question, Horatio pulled off his sunglasses as Ryan and Eric exchanged looks before glancing out the window to see if the sky was falling.

"Rumors?" H asked, his voice low. Even though Calleigh was standing next to him, she had to strain in order to hear what he said.

Rick nodded. "Yes, rumors. I heard them as soon as I walked in this morning. I'm sure that you know by now that this place is just like, and sometimes even worse than high school."

"Rick?" Horatio practically growled. "Do you know who started these rumors?"

Shaking his head, the other man began to speak once more. "Not with any certainty, but I have my suspicions." He took a deep breath before asking once more about when Calleigh had discovered that she had cancer.

The blonde looked around at her teammates and when Ryan held out his hand, she grabbed it. "I found out that I had cancer on Friday afternoon. As far as what type it is I have, that is unknown. I'll find out more soon. This afternoon I have an appointment to have some tests run on my bone marrow at Miami General."

"Calleigh, could you and Alexx please excuse us? Mister Wolfe? Eric?" She wanted to protest, but Calleigh knew that her boss had a better idea on how to work with Stetler to get the information he needed.

Ryan followed his partner while Eric hung back, looking as if he wanted to stay. After a firm look from Alexx, he started to leave as well.

"Honey?" Alexx called out to Calleigh just as she was about to open the door.

"Yes, Alexx?"

"I needed to tell you that I won't be able to take you to your appointment today. Peter had an unexpected meeting come up and he is unable to pick up the kids."

"I'll take you," a pair of voices chimed in unison.

"I've known her longer. I should be the one to take her." Eric stated, tensing up.

"Guys…" Calleigh said, stepping closer to her bickering coworkers.

"Calleigh is my partner. I should be the one to take her." Ryan countered, tensing up as well.

"Guys, come on. Cut it out." The blonde tried again, but still with no obvious effect on them.

Suddenly, a piercing whistle drowned out the arguing pair. It was enough to get them to stop briefly. Calleigh looked back and saw that it was neither Alexx nor Horatio that had ended their argument. It had been Rick Stetler, by the looks of it, an angry Rick Stetler.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Calleigh needs your support during this distressing time, not the pair of you causing her unnecessary stress. I don't care which of you takes her, but this arguing is only going to make the rumors worse."

Horatio raised an eyebrow at the IAB sergeant as the two younger men apologized to Calleigh.

"I have a suggestion." Alexx volunteered.

"Let's hear it."

"Why don't both of them go with Calleigh?"

"I think that's a good idea." Horatio agreed.

"Good. Now that the situation is taken care of, Lieutenant Caine and I have some things that we need to discuss."

Once they were alone, the redhead motioned for the other man to sit down before he took a seat behind his desk.

"When did the rest of you find out about Calleigh? I imagine that Alexx took time off and went with her."

"That assumption would be correct in this case, Rick. The rest of us found out shortly after she did on Friday night. Alexx called as they were leaving and informed me that the team was meeting at the Good Times Bar and Grill. After which, I was asked to pass the message along to Eric and Ryan."

"I see." Stetler wisely refrained from commenting on the location that had been chosen. "Did any of you see anyone from the lab?" He asked, instead.

"No we didn't, but it was crowded given that it was a Friday night." The redhead tucked his sunglasses into his shirt pocket. "Now, it's my turn to ask a question." Horatio leaned across his desk. "Who do you think is behind these rumors?"

Instead of answering, the internal affairs officer stood up and walked over to the blinds. He was slowly opening them as the lieutenant walked over to stand beside him. Once the blinds were open, Stetler looked out and the other man followed his gaze. "Her."

"Her." Horatio repeated, narrowing his eyes as he closed the blinds.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 5/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

At that moment, the woman chose to look up in their direction. All she saw was an upset lieutenant saying something to his nemesis as he closed the blinds. The janitor let out a small smile before she went back to furiously scrubbing at the floor.

* * *

"Look, Lieu… err… Horatio, I know what you're thinking and it's not true."

"Really, Rick what might that be?" The redhead questioned.

He sighed, knowing that the older man was justified in suspecting him. Hell, if half the things he'd tried against the team, and their boss, had been done to him, he'd be suspicious too.

"You're thinking that I am going to use this to go after you and your team." H raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he waited for Stetler to continue. "I might have been an ass…" He stopped at the look that he received. "All right, I know I was an ass, but even I know that cancer is not something to use as a weapon."

"You sound as if you speak from experience."

"I do." The younger man confirmed, taking a deep breath before he continued.

"My mom…" At this point, Rick ran his hand through his hair and began to pace around the office. "My mother had cancer. She beat it the first time, but not the second time. It had come back with a vengeance."

"When she was diagnosed the first time, I was still living in Alabama."

"You don't have…" Horatio started, but was quickly silenced by the other man holding his hand up.

"Just listen. I don't like to talk about it, but some things will become clearer." He walked over to the chair and Horatio did the same, taking a seat at his desk.

"During that time, I helped out whenever I could but, according to Josh, it was never enough. He could always come up with a list of things as long as I am tall that I could have done."

"Josh?" Trust Horatio to pick up on that, Stetler thought to himself.

"Josh is my older brother." He paused for a few moments for effect. "He was also a redhead."

"Anyways, as I said before, my mother beat the disease and went into remission. My brother moved to California and I moved here to Miami. For the next couple of years, everything went smoothly." At that point, Rick stood up and once more began to pace around the office.

"The following year, everything went straight to hell in a hand basket. Mom's cancer not only returned but it had spread. Dad wanted me to move home. It didn't help matters that Josh had already moved back. When I told him no, but I would come visit as much as I could. His exact words, and I quote, 'Don't bother. We know how you feel about us, so don't bother speaking to this family ever again.' My brother agreed with Dad. Mom was the only one who understood my decision. She would call me whenever she could. When she passed away, it was my mom's sister that called and told me. On top of all that, you got promoted."

To put it mildly, Horatio was surprised by what the IAB sergeant had told him. It was something that didn't happen very often.

"That information certainly brings a new perspective to past events."

"Now, I trust that what I told you goes no further. I will tell Calleigh about my mother having cancer and her beating it. She does not need to know that it came back and she lost the second fight or any of the rest."

"I understand, Rick. It goes no further." The redhead looked as if he wanted to ask something else, but refrained from doing so.

"I've been thinking about things ever since it was first discovered that we had a mole in the lab. I realized that I needed to face facts; and the fact of the matter is I took out my frustrations over my brother on you."

At this point, Stetler flinched knowing that he was about to bring up a sore subject for the both of them. "Also, the situation with Yelina should never have happened."

"You're right. It shouldn't have so why did it?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I wish that it had never happened. Yelina just isn't my type."

Realizing that the younger man was beginning to get defensive again, Horatio wisely changed the subject.

"So what is your take on the deal with Ms. Boa Vista?" He questioned.

The other man walked over to the window and peaked out as he tried to compose himself. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw that a few of the lab techs were openly staring in their direction. Once he felt ready to speak again, he turned back to face the redhead.

"I first suspected that we might have a problem a few weeks before the case of the murdered pool boy Armando whatever his last name was. As I recall it was during that case that Chief Burton informed you of his suspicions. During that time, I began to try and find out who the mole could be because I hate having a security breach around." As if to emphasize his point, he kicked the chair in which he had previously occupied.

"Then there was the murder of Rachel Turner."

"I remember that." H replied dryly. "I was the one that you arrested and put into holding if you recall."

Rick had the grace to look embarrassed. "In my defense, at the time, the evidence did point to you." He paused upon seeing Horatio raise an eyebrow.

"I'll admit that I didn't believe it when you told me that there was another guy present and you had punched him." Stetler gave the other man a small smile. "Your Bullet Girl proved that you were telling the truth about Resden being there. Your team is good, but if you ever tell them I said that, I'll deny it until my dying breath."

Horatio let out a small chuckle at that. "My team is good." He agreed. "They wouldn't be on my team if they weren't. Although, I'm not quite sure exactly what that case had to do with the mole situation. Care to enlighten me?"

"I'm getting to that if you would just hold onto your horses." The younger man commented as he stepped up to stand beside the redhead. "Like I was saying, I had just started to look into the mole situation when the Rachel Turner situation happened. When I was focusing my attention on your 'involvement' in the case, I neglected my search to find out who the leak was."

"Speaking of Rachel's case, someone left the Wilson file in the lab a week before. At first, I thought that it was you poking around. Though, we quickly figured out that wasn't the case."

"I remember that. A copy of the file also found its way into my office."

"Really? That's interesting."

"Once the situation had been straightened out, I resumed my search for the mole." Rick paused, running his hand through his hair. "My first lead actually came from one of your CSIs. At the time, I didn't realize it for what it was though." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Mr. Delko… Eric came to me approximately a week later. He was filing a complaint against Ms. Boa Vista for harassment. "It seems that she didn't understand the meaning of 'I'm not interested in you.' I gave her a verbal warning and told her not to do it again. It was only one day between the warning and an anonymous tip being called in from a pay phone less than two blocks away from the lab."

"What was this tip?"

"The tip was that Eric had been spotted getting into a car with a known drug dealer."

"So when Nixon dropped his name, you concluded that it was indeed verification of the anonymous tip."

"Yes, at the time it was as if Christmas had come early." Stetler confirmed. "I jumped on the chance to take out one of your team."

"Eric personally came to me and stated that he didn't smoke pot."

"And you believed him."

"My team has always been truthful to me, and I can usually tell when they aren't giving all the facts."

"I see."

"Anyways, I've recently learned some information that supports his statement that the exposure was passive."

"And that reason is?"

Horatio walked up to the window, pulled back one of the blinds and looked out. When he saw that no one was close enough to eavesdrop, though every once in a while an occasional head would look up in their direction. He let the blind fall from his hand and walked back over to stand behind Stetler.

"This goes no further and if it does, I know who it came from." At this point, the lieutenant circled around to stare the sergeant in the eyes. "Understood?"

"Completely." Rick replied, trying to ignore the fact that he could feel the individual hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

"Marisol…" The redhead began, but was interrupted.

"That's Eric's sister isn't it?"

Instead of doing what he wanted to, knowing that it wasn't a good idea, Horatio settled for folding his arms across his chest. "You will get your answer if you would let me finish. Yes, Marisol is Eric's sister. The team has recently learned that she is battling cancer as well."

The other man groaned when he heard the news. He was beginning to think hitting his head against the wall would be a good idea.

"I have been a complete and utter asshole haven't I?" The silence in the room was deafening. "You know, you don't have to look so smug at my confession."

"It's not every day that you admit the truth to me."

"That's so funny, I forgot to laugh."

Horatio chuckled as he gave Rick a small smile. After motioning for the other man to continue, Rick sighed and kept talking.

"Since then someone kept sending me a few odd complaints here and there. I didn't pay much attention to those, but then I received a few about you and Alexx."

"What?" Horatio's voice was cold and devoid of any emotion. "Did I just hear you right? Someone tried to get Alexx in trouble." He received confirmation in the form of a nod from Rick.

"It's true. It was only recently that I realized something was seriously wrong. Ryan came to me with a complaint that Natalia was harassing him. She kept appearing at his crime scenes and like what happened with Eric, the woman just wouldn't take 'No.' for an answer. It was then that I put in a request to have her fired."

"So what happened and how, better yet, why is she still here?"

"The board wouldn't let me get rid of her." Rick continued; trying his best to ignore the redhead's irritated growl, and the reactions it was causing.

"Shortly after that, Ms. Boa Vista started coming on to me." The bark of laughter coming from H earned him a glare. "Not funny. Because of her, I've had to start carrying a tape recorder around to make sure that I wouldn't get screwed once I started making complaints." Stetler glanced over at the lieutenant and sighed.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, you know what I meant."

"It was a good thing that I did carry that little device with me. The bitch tried to bring sexual harassment charges against me. However, at the inquiry when I provided my evidence they said that all they could do was demote her."

Rick sighed, as he looked over at Horatio with tired eyes. "The members of the board did say that once I got a new DNA Analyst to take over then, and only then, could I fire her. In the meantime, Ms. Valera and the other DNA techs would have to shoulder her work load." He explained as he rubbed his face and once more began to pace about the office.

Horatio nodded, watching the younger man as he paced around the office. The older man gave him a look that would have sent shivers down the other's spine. As if he sensed that he was being watched, Stetler stopped his pacing and caught the look out of the corner of his eye.

Rick licked his lips, which had suddenly gone as dry as a desert, as he squared his shoulders before turning to face Horatio. "I'd like to propose a truce."

The redhead raised an eyebrow at the statement as he placed his hands on his hips. The younger man watched him as he waited for him to speak.

"Are you sure that you want to do this, Rick?" H said, slowly circling the other man like a predator circling its prey. "Because if we do agree to this truce and then you resume your quest in taking both me and my team down…" H let his voice drift off letting the words sink in. "I can guarantee that the results won't be pretty." He whispered in the man's ear."

"I won't…" Stetler's eyes widened. _Please tell me that my voice did not just squeak._ He thought to himself. However, one look at the head of the Miami Dade's Day Shift Crime Lab verified that it, in fact, had. Horatio chuckled as Rick cleared his throat.

"I…" Rick started again and, much to his relief, his voice no longer squeaked. "I have a plan to get rid of Ms. Boa Vista. It seems that since her demotion, she has turned the focus of her anger to your team. She is careful about what she says to me now, but she doesn't realize that I still tote a tape recorder in case she tries again." Here, the IAB sergeant smiled. "Though, it might not be a bad idea for you to start carrying one around, just to be safe."

Horatio hummed softly to himself as he paced from one end of his office to the other. He could tell that his movements were being watched, and thus he deliberately took his time. He finally came to a stop in front of Rick, smirked, and leaned against the wall. "What proof do I have that you will be honest about this truce?"

Stetler swallowed before looking Horatio dead in the eye. "How about I give you a copy of every tape that I have from the moment I first began toting the recorder everywhere I went? And I continue to pass them along after every encounter with her."

The redhead closed his eyes and thought about his answer. "Hmmm… that is an interesting proposition." He finally said. "But I'd be more willing to believe you if you provided me with the actual tapes."

Rick sighed, knowing that he should have expected this. Caine was a smart man. "I don't keep them here at the office. Come over to my place tonight, and you'll get them." The brunette winced, hoping that he hadn't sounded too eager.

He grabbed a notepad off of the lieutenant's desk where he proceeded to write down his address. Glancing up, he saw Horatio staring at him, both eyebrows trying their hardest to reach his hairline.

"Surprised is a good look on you, Red." Stetler looked horrified. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. It didn't help matters any that not only the connection between his brain and his mouth was stuck on red, there was also the fact that it came out with him sounding breathless. _Fuck that did not just happen. It did, now deal with it. Shut up._

H straightened up, a huge smirk plastered on his face. "All right, you have a truce." He held out his hand, waiting to see how the other man was going to react.

All Rick heard due to the mental argument he was having was Horatio saying "truce". He quickly shook the older man's hand. The sergeant wasn't expecting Horatio to snag the notepad with his free hand.

Rolling his eyes, he turned towards the other man. "You know, if you had just waited I'd have given it to you."

"But it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun."

Rick really wanted to stick his tongue out in response to the comment, but decided against it. Instead, he stuck his hands in his pants pockets. "So, I guess I'll see you there."

"You can count on that. I might have a suggestion for you."

"Oh? Do share."

"Calleigh usually helps me whenever I'm on the _hunt_ for new employees." Stetler couldn't help but notice the inflection that Horatio had put on hunt. "Maybe she can help you out. It would be handy in keeping her safe at the lab. Although, she'll probably shoot me if she ever learned that I was suggesting this in order to help keep her safe."

Rick chuckled. "I can so see her doing that too."

"So," H began leaning his back against the door. "Are you going to help keep me free of bullet holes?"

"I guess in means of ensuring the truce survives its infancy, I suppose that I should."

"Don't sound so enthusiastic Rick. One might think you were having doubts."

The younger man smiled. "Oh, I'm not having any doubts. I was just thinking."

"Don't strain yourself."

"Ha ha, you're a regular comedian. As I was saying, I was thinking that for the sake of appearances at work we should keep acting like nothing has changed."

"So that the likelihood of Ms. Boa Vista slipping up increases. If she thinks that we're still enemies, she might try pitting us against each other."

Stetler clapped his hands. "You are smarter than you appear."

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that. After tonight, we should probably have the rest of our meetings at my place."

"That sounds like a good idea." Rick paused, before turning his attention back to the redhead standing by the door. "Where exactly do you live anyway?"

Horatio smirked again. "Well, you could go to Human Resources if you wanted too. Although, if you think you could survive the wait, I'll send it to you in an email at lunchtime."

"The wait won't kill me, so don't think that you can get rid of me that easily."

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"Why don't you meet me at my place around seven?" He answered, purposely ignoring the last question, as he told himself that he was reading more into the redhead's question than was meant.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. I take it that you're about to storm out of my office like you normally do."

"Yeah, I imagine that I should. After all, this meeting has lasted longer than they usually do." Stetler took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he tried to get back into the mindset of Rick Stetler the IAB Asshole.

Horatio slipped on his sunglasses, as he walked over to stand behind his desk. As he walked past, the lieutenant had a smirk plastered on his face. He hoped that he hadn't been misreading the signals that the brunette had been sending out. Rick should have been worried but he didn't see the look. So when the hand hit his backside, he jumped. H then leaned forward, placing his arms on the front edge of his desk.

Rick just gawked at him. _He did not just do that. You know he did and what's more you liked it. Shut up._ Now that he was frustrated, it helped him get back into the mindset he needed to be in. Rick stalked over to the door and jerked it open.

"Don't you dare think that you've won. This isn't over." The younger man shouted over his shoulder as he stormed off in the direction of the audiovisual lab.

_You're right about one thing,_ H thought to himself as he began to open up the blinds around his office. _It's not over._

"Cooper!" Stetler demanded as he entered the lab, causing the AV technician to jump.

"What do you want?" Cooper asked, trying to get his heart rate to slow down.

"Do you know where Ms. Duquesne is?"

"I have no clue."

"It figures. The one time I need to borrow one of Caine's team, she's nowhere to be found." He sneered.

"I saw her heading towards the time clock. Ryan Wolfe and Eric Delko were with her." A new voice replied, entering the conversation. Stetler glared at one Natalia Boa Vista.

"Don't you have some windows to clean?"

"I've finished them."

"Then go away. I'm sure the restrooms need cleaning." Natalia stared at him for a few seconds before storming off down the hall.

Rick turned around and left without saying another word. He stalked back to his office. "Unless someone has died, do not disturb me." He growled at his secretary before disappearing into his office and slamming the door shut.

After locking the door, Rick slammed his head against it a couple of times. "What have I gotten myself into?" He groaned as he turned around, leaning against the door and slid to the floor. The IAB sergeant began replaying what had transpired in Horatio's office once his team had left. Rick had groaned again when his pants began to get uncomfortably tight.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 6/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

**Authors Note:** Had to tweak the email addys for the story in order for it to even show up... I also have the story up on my lj as well.

* * *

Ryan was the last one to leave the office and, as he closed the door behind him, he had to rush to catch up with the others. Alexx quickly wished her friends a good day as she headed back down to the morgue. Before leaving, the older woman pulled Calleigh into a tight hug. "Baby, everything will work out." She whispered in the younger woman's ear.

"Let's get everything squared away then we can take an early lunch." Eric suggested once 'Mom' was out of earshot. "There's this great little family-owned restaurant just outside Miami."

"We can't just up and leave, Eric." Calleigh protested.

"Come on Cal, where's your sense of adventure? Besides it's not like we're going to leave without letting someone know. After we make sure that all the evidence is properly stored, we'll let H know. He can square things away. Heck, even Stetler knows that we're going to be taking you to the hospital later today." Calleigh looked over at Ryan, who just shrugged.

"He does have a point. Besides, I'm hungry."

"Men." She huffed. "Looks like I've been outnumbered. What is it with guys and food?" Calleigh muttered to herself.

"Let's meet at the elevator in twenty minutes." Ryan suggested. "That should give us plenty of time to make sure that all the evidence we were working on was properly put away."

"Sounds good, Wolfe."

"I guess so," Cal reluctantly agreed.

Working together, it didn't take the pair of friends long to make sure that everything was good to go. There was no need to say anything and the silence was welcome. It gave each of them some time to think. Once finished, the two of them headed for the elevator and they weren't surprised to find that they had beaten Eric. He showed up five minutes later.

"Sorry, I'm late. I tried to stop by and let H know where we were going, but the door to his office was still closed. Shortly after, I ran into Valera who said that Stetler was still in there."

"Wonder if they've killed each other yet?" Ryan muttered.

"Nah, if they were going to do that, they wouldn't choose a public place like H's office. I guess that means we can cancel our lunch plans."

"Nice try, but no." Eric said, as he pushed the button on the elevator with one hand and made a grab for Cal's cell with the other.

"Good try, Buster." She said, side-stepping out of his reach, bumping into Ryan as she did. The look she received caused her to start laughing. It took her a few minutes before she could stop long enough to speak.

"Fine, I'll call Alexx and let her know." Was all that was said, as she pulled the cell phone out of her pocket just as the doors slid open. Feeling as if she was being watched, Calleigh looked over her shoulder but the only person she saw was Boa Vista cleaning the windows in the lab as the doors slid shut.

* * *

When the elevator opened once more, the three friends were in the parking garage. The blonde rolled her eyes at something Eric had said.

"I don't know why they're insisting on going out to eat when I'm not hungry." Calleigh grumbled into the phone.

Before Alexx had time to respond, Ryan snatched the phone from its owner's lax hand. "She needs to eat, right Alexx?" He grinned then laughed as he ended the call. "Alexx agrees with us. She said you were getting too thin."

Calleigh made a grab for the phone but the young man was quicker than she anticipated. He tossed it over to Eric, who caught it easily in his right hand. She stopped walking, folded her arms across her chest, and began tapping her foot against the ground in a show of irritation.

"Come on Cal, we're just picking at you. You know we wouldn't do anything like it if we didn't care." Ryan explained as he wrapped his left arm around Calleigh's shoulders.

"I never thought I'd say this, but Wolfe's right." Eric put in as he took her hand into his and placed the phone in it. Calleigh couldn't help it. She really tried to keep a straight face, but was unable too. Her face broke into a huge grin before she burst out laughing.

"That's real funny, Delko. Keys?" He asked, turning towards the ballistics expert.

"Why do we have to go in my car? Couldn't we go in yours, or maybe even Eric's truck?"

"You know, a car really would be roomier than my truck. We'd be squashed together in it. On the way to grab something to eat or heading towards the hospital it might not be so bad. But don't you think you'll be too sore afterwards to want to worry about that?"

What her friend had said made sense. Shaking her head, she turned to look at her partner. "What about yours?"

"It's in the shop. The alternator died on me. I had to take a cab in to work this morning."

"Then that was excellent timing on the alternator's part." Calleigh grumbled as she dug around in her purse hunting for the keys to her jeep. "We better get there in one piece without any damage to my vehicle." The look she shot Ryan made him gulp.

"O… okay."

After a few false tries, Ryan finally found the correct key. He was purposely ignoring the snickers coming from the others. Once the door was unlocked, he stepped back opening it for Calleigh. "After you." He said, making a play bow which earned him a poke in his side. Evidentially, luck was on Cal's side as she found his only ticklish spot which caused him to yelp and jump out of the way.

Delko laughed, grabbed the keys, and headed around to the other side of the Wrangler. He climbed into the back seat before handing the keys to Cal who cranked the vehicle. "You coming with us?" She asked, smiling innocently. "Or are you going to stand there holding your sides all day?"

"I'm coming." He eyed the blond warily. "Are you going to tickle me anymore?"

"Not when you're driving my vehicle. Now, get your butt inside the car."

Ryan hurried around and climbed inside the driver's seat. Once he pulled out of the parking space, Eric leaned forward from his spot in the middle of the backseat and placed his arms on both of the front seats. Stopping the car, Ryan listened as the other man described how to get to the restaurant.

* * *

Rick Stetler had no idea how it had happened, but he had somehow managed to fall asleep leaning against the door. The IAB Sergeant woke up with a pained groan. When he turned his head to look at the clock on the wall, his neck protested loudly. Slowly, he climbed to his feet. "Rick, you're too damn old to be falling asleep on the floor."

Stiffly walking over to his file cabinet, he unlocked one of the drawers and pulled out his lunch. He couldn't believe that an hour had slipped away since he had returned from Horatio's office. The internal affairs officer reached back with one hand to make sure he ended up in the chair, and not back on the floor, before slowly sinking into it. Once situated, he bent down and pulled a soda out of the mini refrigerator that he kept hidden under his desk.

While pulling his lunch out of its bag, Rick accidentally knocked the mouse off of the desk with his elbow which killed the screensaver. Almost immediately after, the computer pinged loudly signaling that he had an email message. Allowing himself a half smile, Stetler picked up the mouse, and clicked on the email tab. The semi-smile quickly faded once Stetler saw who sent it.

********************************************************

To: RStetler atmdpd. com

From: AWoods atmdpd. com

Subject: Eric, Ryan, and Calleigh.

First off, I heard about your little rant while searching for Calleigh earlier. My boys took her out for lunch. They were going to clear it with Horatio before they left, but the two of you were holed up in his office arguing about no telling what. I promise for two grown men, sometimes the two of you act like children. Grow up.

Secondly, I want to know, who is tapping into the security footage for the lab and then printing out the pictures?

********************************************************

_Guess you're a better actor than you realized_. He thought to himself as he rubbed his temples. He was about halfway through his reply to the medical examiner when he was alerted to another message coming in which he chose to ignore until he finished his email to Alexx.

********************************************************

To: AWoods atmdpd. com

From: RStetler atmdpd. com

Subject: Re: Eric, Ryan, and Calleigh.

I see. I'm not sure what you're referring to about the security footage, but I'll look into it.

********************************************************

Rick hit send as soon once he finished. Then, he took a bite out of his sandwich. Before he had a chance to swallow there was another reply from Dr. Woods.

********************************************************

To: RStetler atmdpd. com

From: AWoods atmdpd. com

Subject: Re: Re: Eric, Ryan, and Calleigh.

You better.

********************************************************

Sighing, Rick swallowed his food. He still didn't have any proof that Natalia was behind the rumors, but his gut told him that she was.

Returning his focus back to the computer, Rick hoped that the most recent email was from Horatio. Instead, his eyes narrowed when he saw the name. It was from an email address that he did not recognize.

********************************************************

To: RStetler atmdpd. com, MValera atmdpd. com, DCooper atmdpd. com, NBoaVista atmdpd. com, …

From: OpeneyesNMiami2005 atyahoo. com

Subject: More than just friends?

Everyone knows that Horatio Caine's team is a close group. It seems that lately, three members have gotten a little too friendly. Are Calleigh Duquesne, Ryan Wolfe, and Eric Delko involved in a threesome? Take a look at the attached photos and you decide.

********************************************************

Scrolling down to the bottom of the page, Rick clicked on the attached files where he found the pictures.

"DAMN IT!" He shouted, grabbing the empty coffee cup off his desk and hurling it at the door with all the force he could muster. Stetler watched as it shattered upon contact with the door and rained ceramic shards. He was surprised at the amount of anger he felt at whoever was doing this to Calleigh and the rest of the team.

There was a soft knock at the door, and Rose poked her head in. "I know you said that you didn't want to be disturbed, but I heard a crash. Are you okay?"

"Have you seen the mass email that was sent out?" He asked in a low voice, purposely ignoring her question.

"Yes sir, I have. I believe it was sent to the entire crime lab."

"Would you see to getting a trace run? I want to find out who's using our security cameras to spread mass emails."

"Okay, I'll get the ball rolling on that for you." She glanced down at the remains of what had once been a coffee cup. "Would you like me to call maintenance and get them to clean this up for you?"

"NO!" He shouted, causing his secretary to jump. Rubbing his face, he looked up at her. "I'm sorry about that Rose. It's just that since I made the mess, I should be the one to clean it up. Could you rustle me up a broom and dust pan please?"

Once she was gone, he turned his attention back to the email. He clicked on the list of names that the email had been sent to. He went through reading every one of them, and there were a good deal of names. Quite a few he recognized but there were also several that he didn't. It seemed that Rose had been correct in her assumption that it had been sent to everyone in the crime lab, with the exception of Horatio Caine's team. There were a few cops listed as well. It made him wonder just how Alexx had come across the information.

Opening up a new tab, Rick set about creating a memo. All the while, he was grumbling to himself about someone in the lab making more work for him to do.

********************************************************

To: OpeneyesNMiami2005 atyahoo. com, MValera atmdpd. com, DCooper atmdpd. com, NBoaVista atmdpd. com, …

From: RStetler atmdpd. com

Subject: Memo.

Due to a mass email being sent out to various employees of the Miami Dade County Crime Lab, I felt that it was necessary to send out a memo. Using the security footage for personal use such as sending out mass emails is against company policy. I do not want to have to send this out again.

Sergeant Rick Stetler, IAB

********************************************************

After the memo had been sent out, he closed the extra tab. Rick was just printing out a copy of the email for the meeting that night, when there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" He asked. If it was anyone but his secretary they had better have a damn good reason to be disturbing him.

"It's Rose."

"Come in."

The older lady opened the door, closing it behind her as she carefully maneuvered her way over her boss' desk. Once there, she smiled handing him the broom and dust pan.

"I thought you should know that Tyler Jensen is already at work on tracing the source of the email. He said to give him at least an hour."

"Good." Before Rick could say anything else, his computer beeped loudly.

"Thank you." Rose knew a dismissal when she heard one, and took her cue to leave. "It took you long enough." He muttered to himself, before smirking when he saw the subject line.

********************************************************

To: RStetler atmdpd. com

From: HCaine atmdpd. com

Subject: Information regarding the cold case.

Before I send over the witness' address to you Rick, he has expressed some concerns about who will have access to it.

********************************************************

"Smart thinking, Lieutenant," Rick smiled, deciding to play along.

********************************************************

To: HCaine atmdpd. com

From: RStetler atmdpd. com

Subject: Re: Information regarding the cold case.

You can reassure your witness that I will be the only one who will have access to the information. I don't trust anyone else to handle it due to the sensitivity of the case.

********************************************************

Stetler hit send and waited. Horatio must have been sitting at his computer because it took less than five minutes for the redhead to send a reply with the address, at which they would meet.

* * *

Leaving the restaurant, Ryan held the door open for Calleigh and Eric as they followed him out.

"This was a nice place, Eric. How'd you find out about it?" She asked.

The Latino rubbed the back of his neck, in a slightly embarrassed manner. "The owners are my parent's best friends."

"How come you didn't share this place with us sooner?" Ryan couldn't help but ask. "The food was great." He added as he unlocked the vehicle's doors.

"Yeah, it was."

"The reason is because I only eat here every once and a while. The owners are really nice and they always insist on letting me and anyone I'm with eat for free. I don't like to take advantage of their generosity."

"Hence your volunteering to 'pay' the bill."

"Just get in the car, Wolfe." Eric growled.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." He replied, holding his hands up as if he were surrendering.

Eric quickly hopped into the backseat and buckled in as Ryan started the jeep. "Although I have to say that you could have ordered something more than a salad." He replied, looking pointedly at Calleigh.

"I got a grilled chicken salad."

"And it was only after Ryan persuaded you into ordering it. You were planning on just getting a chef salad."

"I told you guys that I wasn't hungry. Y'all should be happy that I even managed to eat the salad in the first place." Ryan was too busy trying to get back onto the interstate to reply. Eric, on the other hand, having no such distraction did.

"Cal, we realize that you don't feel good. But once you start the treatment, there will be days when you literally will be unable to eat. Trust me, I know from experience with Marisol. Please just understand that we want to help and be there from you. Don't try to push us away."

Once Ryan had safely merged onto the interstate, he reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "We'll be there for you every step of the way. You aren't going to be getting rid of us. The team is a family and family sticks together. Right, Eric?"

"You better believe it."

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 7/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

By the time Rick Stetler had finished his lunch and cleaned up the shattered coffee cup, an hour had passed. He quickly shut down his computer, locked the copy of the email away in his filing cabinet, and checked his suit pocket to make sure that he had his tape recorder. Glancing around his office to make sure he wasn't leaving anything important out in the open, he headed out the door.

"Tell me you found something." Stetler stated coming to a stop beside Tyler Jensen. Rick looked out the window of the AV lab where he saw what looked like Cooper flirting with Boa Vista.

"Oh, I did and you're not going to be happy about it either."

"Why is that?" He asked Tyler, even though he already had his suspicions about what the AV tech was going to say.

"The email originated from our very own crime lab." He flinched, waiting for the explosive reaction. Sure enough, Stetler stormed out of the lab slamming the door behind him.

"Boa Vista get your ass to work! Cooper you come with me now."

Rick led the way to the ballistics lab. Cooper followed, warily looking around. "Should we even be in here? You know Calleigh is very particular about her lab."

"We're not here to touch anything. I just wanted to ask you a few questions where we won't be disturbed."

The IAB officer was carefully watching the younger man's reactions. He looked genuinely puzzled.

"What's this about?" Dan finally asked.

"The mass email sent out this morning came from the AV lab. Why did you do it?"

"What? I didn't send that email out. Someone sent it to me."

"Kind of handy isn't it. I'm sure you realized that since you used your own lab, you'd be a suspect and sent it to yourself to throw people off your tail."

"Stetler, I swear I had nothing to do with that email. What time was it sent out anyway?"

"The message was sent at eleven forty-five this morning."

"Then," Cooper began with a smile, "I couldn't have." He folded his arms across his chest. "I was at lunch."

"Is there anyone that can verify this?"

"There were others in and out of the cafeteria the whole time that I was at lunch. I don't recall anyone in particular who stayed the entire time I was there. Can I go now?"

The sergeant narrowed his eyes. "For now, you can. However, if I find out that you're lying to me…"

"You won't. I'm telling you the truth."

Rick stalked out of the room and headed for the security office. He needed to get copies of the security footage. It was going to be a long night.

The journey to the crime lab's security room never seemed to take as long as it did this time. Stopping outside the door, he rubbed his eyes, before standing up straight and knocking on the door. The door partially opened, and a balding man peaked out. Upon seeing who it was, the door opened wider. "Rick, what can I do for you?"

"John, I need copies of the tapes from the parking garage, the audio visual lab, and the cafeteria from ten until noon as soon as possible if not sooner."

"Does this have anything to do with that email?"

"Is there anyone who doesn't know about that?" He shot a look at the other man. "Don't answer that. Yes, it is."

"Good. I hope you find that creep." John said, turning his back and getting to work making the copies.

* * *

Ryan pulled the Jeep Wrangler into Miami General's parking lot at three o'clock. They had been making good time, until they stumbled across an accident two blocks from the hospital.

"I still can't believe that it took us fifteen minutes to make it two blocks _in_ a vehicle."

"Eric, an idiot ran a red-light and was broadsided, what did you think was going to happen? We're in a personal vehicle so we couldn't just turn on sirens and go around everyone. There's a spot, Ryan." She said, pointing to an empty space.

Before the young man could kill the ignition, Calleigh was out of the jeep and walking towards the building. Eric had to run in order to catch up with her.

"Great, just leave me here." Ryan muttered, as he shut the car off. He quickly made sure that the doors were locked and then ran to catch up with the others. They were waiting for him at the desk where outpatients went to sign in.

"What took you so long?"

"What took me so long was the fact that everyone left me before I could even get out of the car."

"Well, we were running late." The blonde gave Ryan one of her smiles, before she patted him on his arm. "Besides, it's not my fault that a tortoise could beat you in a race today."

"I think you got your stories mixed up, Cal. It was the tortoise and the hare not the tortoise and the wolf." Ryan teased back, while Eric was trying not to laugh at his teammates antics.

Looking around, they saw that there were only two seats left in the waiting room for the three of them. Eric got to one of the chairs first, while the others both arrived at the remaining chair at the exact same moment. Ryan quickly slipped into the seat and, before he knew what was happening, Calleigh plopped herself down onto his lap.

"What?" She asked.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you sitting on my lap?"

"Easy. There aren't any more chairs and I'm not about to stand or sit on the floor until my name is called."

"Might as well enjoy…" Eric began but quickly shut up when he saw the look that Cal was giving him.

"You finish that sentence, and I'll be using you for target practice."

Eric just grinned as he slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. The blonde saw the movement and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare…" There was a flash as soon as the word dare exited her mouth.

"Delko, you are a dead man." She whispered as she leaped up and grabbed the phone out of his hand. She had just deleted the image from the phone when the door opened and a nurse appeared.

"Ms. Duquesne?"

"Ooh, saved by the nurse."

"Wolfe? Do us all a favor and zip it."

Calleigh turned around, purposely elbowing her friends as she did so. They took the hint and zipped it. When the two males went to follow her through the door, the nurse stopped them.

"I'm afraid that I can't let you pass."

It's okay." Calleigh reassured the nurse. "They're my best friends."

"Are you sure? You will have to change into a hospital gown for the procedure."

"Yes, I'm sure. They can go out in the hall when I have change into that."

The nurse stepped aside, allowing the two men to pass. They both resisted the urge to stick their tongue out at the woman who was scowling at them. The blonde fell in between her two friends, and she placed the phone that she had confiscated in the palm of Ryan's hand.

"Hey!" Eric whispered. "That's my phone."

"Then you should have thought before taking that picture which is gone now."

"Okay, here we are. The gentlemen will have to wait out here until the doctor arrives. In the meantime, you need to change into this." The nurse explained, as she handed the hospital gown to Calleigh.

As much as she was dreading having the tests run, Calleigh knew that the sooner it was performed the sooner she could get home. With that in mind, she began to take off her clothes as she changed into the hospital gown. She had just taken a seat on the exam table when there was a soft knock at the door.

"Is it safe to enter?" A new voice asked

"Yeah." Once she answered, the door opened and the doctor entered the room followed by both Eric and Ryan.

"Good afternoon, my name is Doctor Bryan Welling. I'm going to try and explain how these tests work. Both of these procedures only take a few minutes. Since both of these tests are being performed at the same time, we'll be using your hip bone."

Calleigh nodded her head. "That makes sense. Please continue."

"First we'll give you a local anesthetic to numb the area. Once it has taken affect and everything is good and numb, we'll proceed with the bone marrow aspiration. The needle used for this is thin. It's then inserted through the skin and into the center of the hip bone where the marrow is located. I will then use the needle to remove some of the bone marrow. There may be a sudden, sharp pain when I go to remove the cells despite the area being numbed."

"Once I finish with that, I will remove the first needle and insert the next one. The needle used for the trephine test is thicker than the one we use for the aspiration. Once the needle is inserted, I will move it back and forth while pushing it further into the marrow. Our goal is to get a one to two centimeter core of marrow out in a single piece. I won't lie, this procedure can be painful. If you'd like, I can give you a mild sedative which will make you drowsy but it won't knock you out. If you choose to go with the mild sedation, you will have to wait here until it wears off and someone will need to be with you. Afterwards, your hip may ache for a couple of days. Do you have any questions?"

"Actually I do." Calleigh took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "How long will these procedures take? My other question is how long until the results are in?"

"Well if we don't use the sedation, it shouldn't take more than thirty minutes. If everything goes according to plan, it might not even take that long. It takes a little while for the anesthetic to kick in and each of the tests only takes a couple of minutes. The results, however, will take time. It will be a week at the earliest, and two weeks at the latest. Do you have any more questions?"

"No, I can't think of any more."

"Are you ready to begin? Do you want to take a mild sedative?" Dr. Welling asked.

"Not really, but the sooner we begin the sooner we can leave." She closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them and looking the doctor straight in the eyes. "No, I'll pass on the sedative."

"All right, if you're sure. I'm going to go and fetch a nurse as I'm required to have one present. I will also go and get the anesthetic as well. Is there anything you're allergic too? I checked the charts, but I always like to ask just in case."

"No, I can't think of anything."

"All right, I'll be back in a couple of minutes to give you the local."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere wearing this."

Once the doctor had left the room, Calleigh reached over and grabbed both of her friend's hands. Both Ryan and Eric gave a gentle squeeze.

That was how they found her when the two of them returned a few minutes later. The nurse that had taken them back was with him. She glanced over at them, before following Dr. Welling around to the other side of the exam table.

"Ms. Duquesne, could you lie down on your right side, pulling your knees towards your chest?"

Calleigh nodded her head, letting go of her friends' hands as she did so. However, once she was positioned how the doctor wanted her, she reached out again. The two guys were a huge help in keeping her calm. Calleigh felt one corner of the hospital gown being lifted to reveal the backside of her hip.

"You're going to feel a little sting just under the skin. There, all done. We just need for the area to get numb and then we can get the tests over with."

Every so often, he would poke around her hip asking if she could feel it. It took a couple minutes before feeling in the area began to fade and then a few more after that for the area to go completely numb. Once it had the nurse disappeared, returning a few minutes later pushing one of those rolling tables. Ryan couldn't help flinching when he saw the needles.

"Man, those are some long needles." Eric stated, giving a low whistle.

"So not helping things, Delko." Calleigh hissed, digging her nails into the palm of his hand.

"All right, I'm going to start the bone marrow aspiration now." He carefully and skillfully guided the needle through the skin, slowly working its way into the center of the hip bone. The blonde drew in a deep breath and held it as, despite the area being numbed, she felt a sudden intense jolt of pain shoot through her hip. In response, she dug her nails deeper into her friends' hands once more refusing to cry out. Calleigh couldn't help but snicker when Eric yelped instead.

"You're doing a great job. Just hang on a little more. We only have one more test to go through."

Calleigh gave him a small nod as she slowly let the breath out that she had been holding. In addition, the grip on her teammates' hands did not lessen in the slightest.

"This one is going to be painful, but it won't last long."

The blonde took another deep breath and held it. She refused to show any weakness in front of her coworkers. Calleigh gritted her teeth as she felt pain once more shoot through her hip.

_Why didn't I take the sedative?"_ She thought to herself. _Because you are too stubborn about showing any form of weakness._

This time, it was more of a steady pain that grew in intensity as Dr. Welling turned the needle while pushing it deeper into the marrow. The only outward indication that she felt any pain was her narrowed eyes and her slowly tightening grip.

Just when Calleigh was beginning to think that it was never going to end, the doctor lowered the corner of the gown and patted her on the shoulder.

"We're all done. If you want to, you can sit up now."

The young woman nodded as she released her hold on the other CSIs' hands. As she sat up, she failed to notice that Eric discreetly wiping his hand on the back of his shirt. Calleigh had managed to break the skin and draw blood.

"If you'll excuse me for a couple of minutes, I need to get these stored. When I return, I'll bring you a prescription for a mild painkiller just in case you need them."

Dr. Welling left the room with Eric and Ryan following him out in order to give Calleigh some privacy. Once she was alone, Cal eased off the table and began to slowly put her clothes back on. Once she was fully dressed, Calleigh opened the door and peaked out.

"Y'all can come back in now."

It took the doctor more than the few minutes that he said it was going to take him. Ten minutes had passed, and both of her colleagues had their hands full in keeping her from leaving. In the end, the two guys took up position standing in front of the door. Luckily for them, before she could push her way through there was a knock on the door. The CSIs stepped away from the door, allowing Dr. Welling to enter the room.

"Sorry, got mobbed by a flock of nurses all needing something." He said, not looking up from writing. Once he was done, he tore the top sheet off of the pad. "You can get this filled in the pharmacy before you leave."

Calleigh stared at the prescription that she had been given. "Will this medication interfere with my work?"

"It can make you drowsy, but as long as you aren't driving or operating heavy machinery it shouldn't."

"This won't be a problem." Ryan quickly butted in when he saw that Calleigh was about to hand the prescription back. She shot him a look.

"Ryan's right. Our boss has stated that she," here Eric nodded his head in Cal's direction, "is going to be working in the lab or on cold cases." The Latino was having a hard time trying to keep a straight face from the look that Calleigh was giving him.

"Traitors."

Ignoring their antics, the doctor turned to face his patient. "It would be a good idea to take one of those when you get home. It will take the edge off once the sedation wears off. You probably don't believe me, but you will be sore for the next two to three days."

"I understand. Is that everything? Can we go now?"

"Yes, that's all of the information that I needed to tell you. I don't see why not." After wishing them a good day, Dr. Welling left the exam room heading to see his next appointment.

"Come on, let's go."

"Aren't you forgetting something Cal?"

"No, why do you ask?" Instead of answering, Eric simply plucked the prescription out of her hands and held it up to her face.

"Oh."

"Once we get this filled, then and only then will we leave. Ryan agrees with me, don't ya?"

"Yeah." He replied. "Then I'll take you home and we," he said pointing between himself and Eric, "can take a cab back to the lab."

"And then I'll take Wolfe here home. No sense in taking the cab to the lab and then turning around and taking it back to your place. Unless, of course, you want to fork over the money for the cab."

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 8/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

"Stupid Miami drivers…" Rick muttered to himself as he struggled to unlock his front door while juggling the armload of security tapes and folders that he wanted Horatio to look at. Due to a couple fender benders, he was running late getting home.

Succeeding in getting the door unlocked and opened without dropping anything, he kicked the door closed with his foot. He waited until he heard the door click signaling that it was indeed shut. Taking a couple of steps into the living room, he stopped dead in his tracks. To his credit, he didn't drop anything.

Standing in front of his fifty-five gallon aquarium with his hands upon his hips watching the fish as they swam was Horatio Caine.

Rick blinked to make sure that he wasn't imaging things. When he opened his eyes, the redhead was still standing in his living room. He cleared his throat alerting the lieutenant to his presence.

"How did you get in?" He asked the other man.

The redhead chose not to reply. Instead, Rick received a smirk which seemed to suggest 'I know something that you don't.'

"I think that it's time for me to get the lock changed." Stetler muttered as he walked over to his desk where he deposited his armload of items.

"Getting back on the subject of why I'm here, the tapes Rick?"

"It'll take me a few minutes to round them all up."

"You keep them hidden in different spots." The older man deduced, impressed at the younger man's security.

"Yeah, I do. That way, if someone broke in looking for them, they'd have a hard time getting all of them." Here, it was Stetler's turn to smirk. "Although, now they're going to be hidden in the perfect place. No one would think I'd give you something like this."

"That is true." H admitted.

"If you would excuse me, I'll start rounding up those tapes." The older man stepped back, as Rick opened up the door built into the aquarium stand. He pulled some nets and cleaning supplies out of a bucket before removing a single mini cassette tape.

While Stetler was busy rounding up the tapes, Horatio used the opportunity to look around. His eyes were immediately drawn to a bookcase across the room. While most of the shelves held books, one shelf was devoted entirely to pictures.

Stepping closer to the bookcase Horatio looked at the pictures. There were a couple pictures of Rick Stetler as a child. There was one that immediately grabbed the Lieutenant's attention. There were only three people in the photo. There was an attractive woman with red hair that Horatio figured was Rick's mother. Standing beside her was a teenager with long red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. _That must be Josh._ H thought to himself. It appeared that he wasn't looking at the person taking the photo, if you followed the teenager's line of sight you could see that he was looking at an eight year old Rick Stetler. His hair was plastered to his head with what looked like half a can of hair gel. The young Rick was avoiding looking at the camera. As H followed the child's gaze he noticed that Rick must have had a broken arm because only his right was visible in the picture. Squinting, Horatio took a step forward as he took a closer look at the photo. He could just see the hint of a sling around the boy's neck as well as trace the outline of an arm encased in plaster underneath the shirt.

There was also a photo that must have been taken before he graduated from high school where she was adjusting his graduation cap. The rest of the photographs showed her and him at various ages.

"I should have known that you'd end up snooping around the moment I turned my back."

H straightened up, turning around to face the slightly taller man. "I do not snoop. I was merely investigating my surroundings."

Rick snorted. "So what did your investigation tell you?"

"That you were telling me the truth about your family."

"The tapes are on the table, but there is something that I need to discuss with you." Stetler replied, changing the subject.

"What might that be Rick?"

Sighing, Stetler walked over to his desk and picked up the file he had brought in with him. Carrying it over, he plopped down onto his couch and held it out.

Horatio took the folder and began reading its contents. As he progressed, his eyes narrowed in anger. "Where did you get this?"

"Somebody at the lab sent it out in a mass email. Near as I can figure everybody at the lab except for you and your immediate team received it. Although she didn't receive the email herself, somehow Mrs. Woods not only knew about it but she sent me a message asking me to look into it. I said I would." He blinked. Getting up, Rick began to pace across his living room.

"Do you mind not pacing Rick? I'd like to actually see who I'm talking too."

Stopping mid-stride, the younger man turned to face his former nemesis. "Sorry, it's just that this whole thing stinks. It was almost as soon as I had promised Alexx that I'd look into the situation when I received the email. Immediately, I sent out a memo about using the security footage for personal uses."

It was easy to pick up on the fact that the other man was getting huffy. "I didn't know that you cared Rick."

"I don't, I just hate mass emails." He replied a bit too quickly. "It would have been a completely different story if they had taken another approach."

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe. Your reaction tells me otherwise."

Trying to ignore the hairs standing up on the back of his neck at the scrutiny of being under the redhead's piercing gaze, he continued to relay the information that he had managed to gather. "I had the email traced and it was sent from our very own audiovisual lab." Forcing himself to ignore the other man's growl, and the reactions it was causing, he continued. "I confronted Cooper about it. He claims that it wasn't him because he was eating lunch at the time the email was sent out."

"So that's what those tapes are about." Cocking his head in the direction of the desk, he continued. "That looks like it's more than just the ones covering the AV lab and cafeteria."

"Of course it is. I also have the tapes from the parking garage." He quickly held up his hands at the low growl coming from H. "I'm not breaking the truce. Honestly. Besides, think about it, how would it look if I was investigating the email without looking into the cause of why it was sent in the first place?"

"That…" Horatio began, swallowing deeply, "that is a valid point." The sentence was spoken reluctantly as the Lieutenant walked over and sat down placing the photos on the remaining section of the coffee table that wasn't covered by mini cassette tapes.

Rick was surprised. Actually, surprised was an understatement. He couldn't believe that Horatio had actually admitted that he, Rick Stetler, was right. He quickly turned around so that his back was facing the older man to hide the fact that he was bushing.

"I planned on watching the tapes tonight." The younger man stated as he turned around trying to lean casually against the desk.

"I think that it's time to call a team meeting. The best time would be shortly after everyone arrives tomorrow morning."

"That's a good idea. They need to be informed on what is going on."

It was then and only then that he noticed that Caine was giving him that little smile of his that said he was up to something. Narrowing his eyes, he watched him warily. "What?"

"I think that the others need to be informed about our little truce."

"How?" A shocked look appeared on his face. "Wait… No!"

"They need to know. The reason the team works so well together is that we trust each other. That trust is earned by example. If they even suspect that I'm keeping secrets from them then that trust will falter and the cohesiveness of the team will begin to break."

"That may very well be, but how would you explain a team meeting that I'm invited too? We agreed that nothing would change with how we acted at work. That would constitute a major change in our behavior." Rick knew he was grasping at straws. The smirk that his former opponent was sporting acknowledged that the other man knew that he was winning the argument.

"Not if we make full use of the blind spot."

A whimper of frustration escaped and Rick froze. He could not believe that he had in fact whimpered and that it was witnessed by none other than Lieutenant Horatio Caine.

"What blind spot?" He demanded, but it didn't have its intended effect.

The redhead kept smirking and simply gave him a look as he tried to get a more comfortable position on the couch. H stubbornly refused to let Stetler see the reaction he was having to the whimper. Rick noticed the movement but before he could make heads or tails out of it, Horatio spoke.

"The blind spot is a small alcove in the hallway outside the morgue."

"Do you really think this is a good idea Horatio? I haven't exactly made myself popular with your team, you know?"

H's smirk just got bigger. The distraction worked just like a charm. "Let me deal with them. Besides, do you honestly think that Calleigh would voluntarily help you out if she didn't know about the truce?"

"Is there anyone that can win an argument with you?"

Slipping on his sunglasses, so that his eyes would not give anything away, Horatio looked over at him. His attention returned to the pile of tapes sitting on the coffee table. "So, do you have a bag or something to put the tapes in?" He evaded answering Rick's question by countering with one of his own.

"I might. Give me a few minutes to see if I can find something."

"Hey, Rick?" He called shortly after the younger man had left the room and spending a few more minutes trying to make sense out of the photographs. Unfortunately, his mind wasn't cooperating with him on the task at hand.

"Yeah?" He called, the reply muffled.

"Where is your bathroom?" At first, a loud thud was the only response he got to his question.

"SHIT!"

"What's going on in there? Need any help?"

"NO! It's nothing, really. Just hit my head on a shelf. Just open the other door in the living room. The bathroom is down the hall, first door on the left."

Choosing not to reply, Horatio quickly made a beeline for the door leading deeper into the house and, while he didn't run, set a fast pace for the bathroom. Slipping inside, he closed the door making sure that it was locked behind him. Placing his sunglasses on the top of the sink, he turned on the cold water and let it run.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" He muttered to himself as he splashed cold water on his face. Unbeknownst to him, Stetler was in the kitchen doing the exact same thing.

"Think, H." He told himself. "Just think." Several minutes passed before Horatio regained his famous composure. Reaching over, he flushed the toilet after which, he washed and dried his hands.

Opening the door, he found himself face to face with Rick Stetler. Both men took a step backwards while taking in each other's appearances. Their faces were both damp, while the hair around their faces was soaked.

"Paper or Plastic?" Rick asked, holding up the bags. He was mentally kicking himself for not coming up with something better to say.

Paper would work better." If Stetler wasn't going to make a comment about his appearance, then he could grant the other man the same courtesy.

"Paper it is then." Rick agreed, stepping aside to let Horatio pass. He arched an eyebrow when he noticed the sunglasses resting on the sink. "Forgetting something?" He asked, ducking into the bathroom and grabbing them.

Caine stopped dead in his tracks, his right hand migrating to his suit pocket and finding it empty. Turning around, he spotted Stetler leaning against the door frame with the sunglasses in his right hand.

"Hand them over."

"What kind are these and how much did you pay for them?" He asked, ignoring the glare he was receiving from the other man as he twirled the sunglasses in his hand.

"They were a gift." Horatio's hand shot out and grabbed the sunglasses accidentally brushing the other man's hand as he did so.

"Really, who did you get them from?" Rick asked, trying to ignore the fact their hands had just touched. _You idiot, he was just grabbing the sunglasses and your hand got in the way._

"Ray Jr. picked them out for my birthday when he was seven." Here, the older man smiled. "He was so excited. Yelina and Ray had paid for them, but they let Ray J have all the credit."

"Sorry. I… I didn't know." Stetler felt like a heel. He had just been curious and now he knew why they said curiosity killed the cat.

"Not many people do. It's just not a topic that is brought up much." Straightening up, he adjusted his suit coat before glancing at his watch. "I probably need to be leaving if you want to get those tapes watched and get enough sleep so that you can attend the meeting in the morning."

"Gee, thanks." He replied sarcastically, while following Horatio back into the living room. More than once he had to force his eyes to move upwards. The few feet it took to return to the living room seemed like miles.

"I'll send you an email once everyone arrives in the morning." H said, squatting down as he began bagging the tapes.

"Need any help?" Rick asked gritting his teeth together.

"No thanks, I've got it." Horatio replied as he scooped the last of the tapes into the paper sack. Walking over to the door, he gave Rick a smirk. "Have fun with your tapes." With a small wave the other man was gone.

Groaning, Stetler walked over to the door and locked it. Rubbing the back of his head where he hit it, Rick could feel a lump forming. He knew what he was going to spending the rest of his night doing. First he was going to take a freezing cold shower then, if he didn't freeze to death, watch the security tapes.

An hour later, Stetler found himself once again in his living room. Grabbing the first tape off the pile, he inserted it and hit play. Settling down on his sofa, he began to watch.

For the first fifteen minutes, there was nothing but the occasional person heading into and out of the elevator. Then, it showed the three friends in question getting off of the elevator. As he watched, Rick felt himself getting angrier by the second.

"Fuck," he growled. Getting up, he began to pace back and forth. "Anyone with half a brain could see that they were just picking at each other." _But it wasn't the footage that was sent in the email._ He thought to himself_. Whoever did it knew what they were doing and took three seemingly innocent pictures that when put together looked questionable_.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 9/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Limping into work the next morning, Calleigh admitted to herself that maybe she should have just taken the painkiller and called a cab. Instead, she just put the bottle in her purse and told herself that she would be okay. She was regretting the decision halfway through her commute, which was when the last traces of the medicine that she had taken the night before had worked its way out of her system. Not even the blaring music was helping to distract her.

As she slowly navigated the halls, she was muttering to herself. For some reason, Natalia Boa Vista had decided to mop the lab's floors that morning so she had to go the longer, more roundabout way to get to her ballistics lab or risk falling and further injuring herself.

Calleigh wasn't surprised to find Horatio in the lab waiting for her. He pressed his lips together in a tight smile, indicating that he wasn't too pleased with the fact that she was limping like she was.

"I know the doctor gave you something for the pain. If you had taken it, then you wouldn't be limping quite so badly. I suggest you take one now. If you don't, I'm calling Alexx."

Ducking her head, Calleigh knew that she was busted. "All right, I'll take it." Pulling the bottle out, she shook out one pill. "Well, I guess I can't. I don't have anything to take…" Her excuse was interrupted by Horatio pulling a bottle of water from behind his back. "…it with." Shooting him a look, he just arched his eyebrow. "How?"

"I know that you hate taking medicine almost as much as you hate showing any form of weakness." Was all that H said as he waited for Calleigh to take the painkiller, before he got to the real reason behind why he was paying her a visit first thing in the morning.

"Good. Now that you've taken the medicine we can get back to business. We're having a team meeting in twenty minutes down in the morgue.

"The usual spot?" she asked.

"The usual spot." the redhead confirmed. "I'll see you there." Leaving the lab, Horatio headed for his office. Once inside, he quickly sent out an email and once he was finished he shut down the computer.

H then proceeded to head downstairs where he replayed the morning's events in his head. He had found Eric, Ryan, and Alexx fairly quickly after they had arrived with the exception of Cal. When he spotted the caution wet floor signs, he understood why he hadn't seen her. Fighting the urge to glare at the janitor, he took the quickest route to the ballistics lab where he waited for his firearms expert to arrive.

"A penny for your thoughts, Horatio." Alexx's voice brought him back to the present. "It's been a while since we had a meeting down here."

"You'll find out soon enough."

"We'll find out what soon enough?" Eric questioned as he and Ryan arrived.

"Something is going on." Calleigh's voice rang out as she limped over to the group. "Don't give me that look, H already made me take a pill for the pain." She snapped. Shaking her head, she eased herself into the rolling office chair that Alexx had specially brought for her.

"What do you mean Cal?" Ryan asked.

"What I mean is that when I walked through the lab, people were staring at me. And, it wasn't the curious way that they were looking at me yesterday."

"Yeah, there is something going on." Horatio admitted as he ran his hand through his hair. "We're still missing someone."

"Who?" The three voices asked in unison.

"That would be me." Stetler answered, as he turned the corner his eyes flickering between the three equally shocked faces of Horatio's team.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Delko snarled once he had found his voice.

"Eric…" H's voice held a warning tone, but the younger man didn't notice. He was about to take a step forwards when Rick walked around him quickly so that he was standing behind the redhead.

"I told you this wasn't one of your smartest decisions." He whispered into the other man's ear just a split second before a loud whistle grabbed everyone's attention.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, will someone let me on the clue bus and tell me what is going on? Eric, just chill. Let Horatio explain why HE is here." She snapped, pointing at Rick. "If H invited him then there must be a pretty good reason for it. As for me, I just want to know why the majority of the lab is staring at me like I'm the Wicked Witch of the West."

Alexx walked over and placed her hand on Cal's shoulder. "Calm down Sweetie, this stress isn't helping you any."

"Alexx, I'll calm down when I get some answers."

Horatio cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to him. "Calleigh, if you could just give us a few minutes we'll get to explaining what is going on."

"All right, I'm waiting."

"As you all know yesterday after all of you had left, Rick stayed and we talked. It was assumed that we were arguing, but in fact, we were having a serious discussion in which we agreed upon a truce."

"A truce? With him? H, are you crazy? How can you trust him after everything he's done?"

"Now wait just a cotton-picking minute." Stetler took a deep breath before letting it out slowly as he glared at Eric Delko. He would not give the Russian Cuban the satisfaction of drawing him into a heated argument.

"Eric, I have my reasons for agreeing to this truce. Besides, Rick understands that if he double-crosses this team the results won't be pretty. Isn't that right?"

Wisely staying silent, the younger man just nodded his head in agreement. Once Stetler felt that the others were no longer going to rip his head off, although he knew they didn't like him being there, he cautiously stepped out from behind Horatio. He didn't go too far though, just in case.

Alexx simply took in the scene without saying anything. Instead, she just gave a little half-smile along with a wave of her hand motioning for Rick to continue.

"As you know, it was mentioned yesterday that there were rumors going around. What wasn't mentioned is that for a while, I've had suspicions of a mole in the lab."

Realizing too late how his statement could be misinterpreted, Rick quickly held up his hands. When Delko took a step forward, he hurriedly slipped back behind Horatio who just rolled his eyes.

"Are you saying that one of us is the mole? This is ridiculous! Horatio…" Stetler couldn't help but smirk as Delko was stopped mid-tirade by a smack to the back of his head courtesy of one Alexx Woods.

"What was that for Alexx?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"That was for you jumping to conclusions. You mister, have a one track mind when it comes to certain things. Just give him a chance. For crying out loud, Horatio is giving him one and it has been his ass that Stetler has been after for so long. Now, apologize to the man."

Ryan and Calleigh were too busy watching Eric to notice that Horatio and Stetler had both blinked in shock when Alexx was setting Eric straight about his behavior. However, the action did not go completely unnoticed. The lab's mother hen filed it away for future reference.

Clearing his throat, Rick continued to fight the blush he felt was coloring his face, as he stepped back out from behind the redhead. "As I was saying, once I suspected that we had a mole, I began trying to find out who it was. Then there was a case that was brought to my attention which distracted me from the search."

"What case was that?" Ryan asked.

"It was the Rachel Turner case." H answered for him.

Nodding in agreement, Rick began speaking once more. "Once that fiasco was straightened out, I resumed my search." Turning to face Delko, Rick smiled. "I think that I should and will say thank you."

This took the Latino completely off guard. "Wh… what for?"

"My first lead actually came from you." Stetler smirked as the confused look refused to leave Eric's face. "When you filed the complaint against Ms. Boa Vista, I gave her a warning. The very next day, I received a tip about you."

"Let me guess, it had something to do with that dealer Nixon." Calleigh spoke up.

"You guessed correctly. After that, I would get a few complaints here and there about her and then anonymous tips would get called in. Those names will continue to remain anonymous seeing as those people aren't attending this meeting."

Rick allowed that little bit of information to sink in before he began to speak once more. "When Ryan came to me in order to file a complaint against Ms. Boa Vista, I realized that we had a serious problem. I put in a request to have her fired."

"What happened?" Alexx asked.

"Long story short, the board wouldn't let me fire her. It was only after she tried to file a false sexual harassment claim against me that I was allowed to demote her."

"And we thought that we had it bad when she was just harassing us." Ryan mumbled under his breath and, to everyone's surprise, Eric nodded in agreement.

"Now we go on to our next order of business." The redhead suggested as he turned to face his ballistics expert. "We came up with a plan, but in order to succeed we could use your help."

Narrowing her eyes, Calleigh looked warily at the two men. "What is this plan and I'm not going to like it am I?"

"In order for me to be able to fire the snake, I have to find a DNA Analyst that can take over the Justice Program. Boa Vista doesn't know that I've been told that if I find someone, then she's out the door."

"That's all very well and good but what does that have to do with me?"

Horatio gave her a small smile. "I may have mentioned that you sometimes help me when I'm looking to hire someone."

"Is this your way of trying to keep me safe?" Calleigh countered, glaring at Horatio. The redhead took a step backwards from the ferocity of the stare, bumping into Stetler as he did so.

"Calleigh?"

"What Alexx?" She snapped. Calleigh couldn't help but wince when she realized what she had just done.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me young lady. Do you want me to side with Horatio in sticking you on lab duty for the unforeseeable future?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then calm your butt down. Would you rather be working on cold cases, working in the lab, or working on something that will improve the overall quality of the lab with your time?"

"The last option…" The blonde mumbled under her breath.

The older woman smiled. "I couldn't quite hear you."

"Okay, okay you win. I'll help them out."

Horatio let out a sigh of relief. "We have agreed on a plan. Nothing is going to change with how we act towards each other at work…"

"You know that actually explains a lot." Alexx commented.

"…and I'm borrowing you for a project that I reluctantly need your help on." Rick finished up.

"There's something else isn't there?" Wolfe asked, still keeping a wary eye on the IAB sergeant.

"This has something to do with the picture I saw doesn't it?"

"Picture? What are you talking about Alexx? What picture?"

"Since Rick has been looking into it, he can explain things." Horatio replied stepping backwards, giving the other man a slight push forwards. Stetler just sent him a look before clearing his throat.

"Well, get on with the explanation." Delko added, folding his arms across his chest.

"Actually, this has to do with all three of you." The IAB sergeant replied, looking at Calleigh, Ryan, and Eric in turn. He saw annoyance flash across the blonde's face while confusion lined the other two.

"What exactly is this?" Ryan asked.

"This would be a mass email that was sent to the majority of the Miami Dade Crime Lab's employees." Rick explained as he opened the folder that he had tucked under his arm and pulled out a copy of the email as well as the pictures. Looking around at each person, he wasn't sure who to hand them to first. Rick could easily picture that no matter which person he passed it out too, one of the others would be ready to bite his head off. Instead, he played it safe and gave them to Horatio.

"The email went on about how the three of you were more than just friends." Rick sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I personally watched the footage and noticed that it was only the stills taken at specific times during friendly motions. Alone the images are incriminating, but if you actually take the time to sit down watch the footage anyone with half a brain can see that it is innocent behavior."

Turning his head in the direction of Horatio's team, he tried his best to and to his credit, Rick actually succeeded in keeping a straight face. "Delko, you might want to close your mouth before the flies get in."

"You…" Eric blinked, shocked at the turn in events. "You're actually serious about the truce."

"Glad you finally figured that one out. It certainly took you long enough."

"You have to remember there are times when he can be a bit dense."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Gentlemen, can we please get back to the topic at hand?" H asked, as he handed the copy of the email over to Alexx. Once she had looked it over, she passed it on to Calleigh. When Cal was done, she handed it over to Ryan who then gave it to Eric.

"Well, that does explain the dirty looks I was getting from the women in the lab." Calleigh responded dryly.

Up until this point, Rick had been tense. Slowly, he began to relax. "I did some digging around and discovered that the email in question was sent from our very own audiovisual lab."

"Cooper." Eric growled, moving towards the exit.

"Easy there, Eric. The man has more to say." Alexx's voice held a soothing quality as she placed her hand on his left shoulder. Rick nodded at Alexx's words.

"That was my first thought too," Stetler admitted. "I even confronted him about it. He claimed that he was at lunch the entire time."

"And just what exactly did you find out?" Horatio inquired.

"I discovered that he was actually telling me the truth. After watching the footage, he was seen entering the cafeteria at eleven and did not leave until twelve. Cooper could not have sent the email because it was sent out at eleven forty-five."

"So, I take it watched footage from the AV Lab next?"

"Yes, Horatio, I did." Rick gave them a sly smile.

"Why do I get the feeling that you found something?" Calleigh asked.

"Because you're smart." He retorted, opening the folder once more, and pulling out another image. It was quickly snatched out of his hands by none other than Alexx Woods. "It's not a good picture, but as you can tell the person in question is a woman."

Lieutenant Caine narrowed his eyes. "Which woman, and I use that term loosely, has been a common denominator throughout everything?"

"Natalia Boa Vista." Horatio's three CSIs growled at the same time. Alexx turned, letting the photo, and folder, drop to the ground, and marched over to the elevator where she began jabbing at the buttons. Ryan, Horatio, and Eric all exchanged looks before hurrying off after her.

"Oh hell," Stetler muttered to himself. "Remember, I have to act like nothing's changed up there." Rick called after the retreating figures just as the elevator doors closed behind the medical examiner. The other set of doors opening a split second later.

"Hold the door open!" Calleigh called limping over to the elevator as fast as she could.

Shaking his head, Rick grabbed the picture off the floor and stuffed it back into the folder. Then he hurried over to the stairs and practically ran up them. No way did he want to miss this.

Natalia Boa Vista was picking up the last wet floor sign when she heard the doors to the elevator open. She didn't think much of it until she became aware of the sensation that she was being watched. Straightening up, she turned around.

"Mrs. Woods, what can I do for you?" She asked, giving the older woman a smile. The other set of doors pinged open just as the crack of Alexx's palm connecting with a Natalia's face sounded. Reacting, Boa Vista raised her hand to strike back only to have her wrist grabbed from behind.

"What the HELL is going on here?!" Stetler demanded. "I come down here to see if I can track down the elusive Ms. Calleigh Duquesne. Instead, I'm about to witness an assault in progress. Please explain to me why you were about to hit Mrs. Woods."

"She hit me first," Natalia complained giving Stetler what she thought was her cutest pout.

"You ought to know by now, that's not going to work on me." Rick replied, releasing his hold on Natalia's arm as Horatio and the rest of his team joined them. "Nice of you to join us." Stetler replied sarcastically upon seeing the new arrivals.

Rick had to fight the urge to smile. He would bet money that the majority of the employees that were just standing around would have loved to do what Alexx had just accomplished. It was a beautiful sight.

"What is going on here, Rick?" Horatio growled.

"That's what I'm trying to determine. I was here to see if Ms. Duquesne was around and found Ms. Janitor over here about to assault your medical examiner when I intervened."

"Is this true Alexx?" Horatio asked, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"Yes, Horatio, it is."

"Excuse me, but I was the one who actually got hit."

Stetler took a step forward, clearing his throat. "Is there anyone in the lab that witnessed the altercation in question?"

The silence was deafening. Natalia's smirk slowly morphed into a frown. "Oh come on, someone must have seen something." Boa Vista complained loudly, but no one came to her aid.

"Right, Mrs. Woods I'm going to need you to come with me so that I can get your statement. Ms. Duquesne, when I am finished with this situation, I'll find you so that we can discuss that project I need you for."

"Do I have to?" She complained, turning to H. "Horatio isn't there anything that you can do?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you this time Cal." Pulling off his sunglasses, he glared at the IAB sergeant. "My hands are tied."

"Well then, let's get this over with then." Calleigh began limping towards the elevators. When she realized that nobody was following her, the blonde stopped and turned around. "You do know that the sooner you guys follow me, the sooner things are taken care of?"

"I'll get your statement later." Rick growled as he stormed past Natalia with Alexx following behind him.

Boa Vista waited until the others were all out of earshot before she smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."


	10. Chapter 10

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 10/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Ryan's gut told him that he needed to turn around and go back. Since working on Horatio's team, he had come to respect gut instincts. Sure enough, it paid off. He managed to appear behind her just in time to hear the words that she muttered.

"Looking forward to what?" He whispered to himself, staying back, occasionally ducking into the shadows as he followed her to the maintenance office.

Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out the recorder that he had signed out earlier that morning. After lunch, he and Delko were going to interview one of the prime suspects in a robbery case that the two of them were working on. Glancing at his watch, he was relieved to know that he had enough time to get another tape before the scheduled interview.

Moving slowly, so as not to attract any unwanted attention, Ryan hit the record button. As he watched, the young man alternately went from doing his best not to gag or trying to keep himself from bursting out into a fit of laughter. Natalia Boa Vista was practicing her statement using the coat rack as a substitute for one Rick Stetler. He stood outside the doorway, until the walkie talkie crackled to life.

"Maintenance please report to the women's restroom in the lobby. We have reports of someone getting sick all over the floor."

Taking advantage of the distraction, Ryan hightailed it to Horatio's office. Knocking on the door, without bothering to wait for an answer, he slipped inside.

"What can I do for you Mister Wolfe?" Horatio asked. The interruption was a welcome break from the paperwork that he had been staring at since he had returned to his office. Paperwork, although necessary, was boring and the one aspect of the job that the Lieutenant wished that he could do without.

"Actually H, I might have something for you."

The statement earned a quirk of the redhead's eyebrow. "Care to elaborate that for me, Mister Wolfe?"

Ryan was struggling to maintain a straight face as he explained how he had listened to his gut and followed Natalia without her ever noticing him. He barely kept it together as he explained what he saw in the maintenance office.

"Nice work, Ryan. But, do you have any proof? I believe you and I'm sure that for once Stetler would, but without any proof as you know there's nothing that we can do."

"Oops, did I not mention this?" Ryan asked, pulling the tape recorder out of his pocket. Extracting the tape, he handed it to Horatio.

"You got it all on tape?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"From the moment she began practicing her 'so called' statement up until she was called to clean the lobby restrooms." Ryan smirked. "Although, I'll be the first to admit, half the time I was doing my best not to gag."

And just what exactly were you doing the other half of the time?"

"I was trying not to burst out laughing. You should have seen her. She was coming onto a coat rack. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you hear the tape. She was calling the coat rack Rick Stetler during her…" Ryan grew silent while he tried to determine the best word to use. "…rehearsal."

Horatio decided to leave that one alone. He was fighting both the urge to growl and the urge to laugh. The first one surprised him. He wasn't sure why the thought of the snake was coming onto Stetler made him want to growl. "Do I even want to know why you had a tape recorder with you?"

"It's nothing, really H. Delko and I have a suspect in the Hart robbery case and we're going to interview him after lunch. I just decided to go ahead and sign out the tape recorder out first thing this morning since I didn't want to risk being caught unprepared."

The older man stood up. "Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Could you please excuse me while I listen to this tape?"

"Not a problem." With that, Wolfe turned and left the office.

Once he was alone, the Lieutenant locked the door to his office. He did not want to be disturbed, nor did he want anyone learning about the tape just yet. Slipping the tape into the player, he returned to his chair and hit play.

When the tape had finished Caine hit stop and grabbed the tape. He quickly stuffed it into his suit pocket and stormed out of his office. At the elevator he hit the up button, but decided that it was taking far too long. Turning on his heels, he headed for the stairwell. On the way he couldn't help but overhear a couple comments.

"Wonder what has him so riled? Normally, nothing ever fazes him."

"Didn't you hear? Not only has Stetler been sniffing around, he's also hijacked a member of Lieutenant Caine's team for a special project of his."

"No wonder he's pissed. Stetler had better keep both of his eyes open."

Horatio somehow managed to keep a straight face until he reached the stairwell. Once alone, he allowed himself to briefly smirk. The redhead quickly put his game face back on and stalked up the steps towards Rick Stetler's office. Caine was confused. He had no idea why he was so furious, but he was more determined than ever to get rid of one Natalia Boa Vista.

Shortly upon arriving, he was stopped by Rick's secretary. "I'm sorry, but you can't go in there. Sergeant Stetler is still with Mrs. Woods."

"Then I'll just wait out here for him to finish."

The secretary just sighed and returned to her desk. Horatio didn't have to wait for very long. He'd only been standing there for a couple of minutes before the door opened. Rick was holding the door open for Alexx, and he gave a small start to see Horatio standing outside his office door.

"Alexx." Horatio acknowledged her with a nod of his head as she walked past. The medical examiner gave him a small smile before she headed for the elevator.

"What are you doing here?" Rick growled out, once he had gotten over the surprise of seeing Horatio standing in his outer office.

Stalking forward, making Rick take a step back unconsciously, H pressed his index finger into the younger man's chest. "We need to talk." He growled, blue eyes staring into brown.

Stetler soon found himself being backed into his office. "Think you could take your hand off of me." He snapped, glaring at the other man, before they disappeared inside. There was a small part that regretted the fact that he had to say the words out loud. Mentally shaking his head, he tried to push all thoughts of kissing Horatio out of his mind.

Once the two of them had disappeared inside the office, the door slammed shut. After which, Horatio locked the door and both men smirked as they visibly relaxed.

"So what's the deal with this impromptu visit?"

"Thanks to Mister Wolfe, I have something that I think you might find useful."

Horatio's statement certainly grabbed his attention and piqued his curiosity. "What is it that you have?" He asked, wincing as his voice sounded a bit too eager.

The light hit Rick's eyes just right and Horatio could have sworn that his eyes had sparkled. It reminded him of a puppy being given a treat for being good. _Where on earth did that come from? _He thought to himself as he mentally shook his head.

"It seems that Ryan was having second thoughts after the 'incident' and chose to listen to his gut. He circled back around so that he could keep an eye on our problem." Horatio explained with a smile. "From what he told me, she never even suspected that any of us had returned and was observing her. Anyways, he followed her back to the maintenance office…"

Rick raised an eyebrow as Horatio's voice trailed off. "What happened?"

Horatio let out a soft, yet wicked little chuckle. The younger man fought the urge to groan as he tactfully chose to sit down in the chair behind his desk. "It seems that my CSI stumbled across her practicing her so-called statement and using a coat rack as a stand-in for you."

"I'm not even going to ask."

"You won't have to if you listen to the tape." H growled, before shaking his head. "Which is why, I'm giving you the tape that was given to me."

Stetler just stared at Horatio, confusion clearly evident on his face. "Was there any reason for Wolfe to have a tape recorder with him?"

"Honestly, it was just pure luck. He and Delko have an interview later today with a suspect and Ryan was planning on taping it. Not wanting to have to wait until the last minute, he had signed it out early this morning."

Rick closed his eyes and dragged his hand down his face. The redhead was not leaving. It was as if Horatio was just waiting for him to put the tape into the player and hit play.

The intensity of the older man's gaze upon him soon got to be too much and Stetler had to shift in the chair. He tried to hide it, but the movement was caught by Horatio's trained eye. "Is there a problem Rick?"

He wanted to shout out that yes he had a big problem at the moment but, knew that it wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, he chewed on his lip in an attempt to refrain from speaking the thoughts that were running through his head.

When Stetler didn't answer, Horatio began to watch him closely. At first he didn't notice anything different. However, as he kept watching, he noticed that Rick was chewing on his lip. Choosing not to say anything, Horatio just arched an eyebrow and kept watching. It wasn't long before his stare was met by Rick's. Shortly afterwards, Caine pulled the rolling chair up and took a seat in front of the desk.

"Is there a problem Horatio?" Rick asked as a smirk grew on his face.

"Just listen to the damn tape."

"All in due time, all in due time." His smirk got even wider at Horatio's growl. "Okay, okay, take it easy. What's gotten you so grumpy all of a sudden?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes, I would." Rick answered truthfully, as he placed the tape into the machine and hit play. The silence was soon broken by Natalia's voice.

As he listened to the voice, Rick found his problem soon disappeared. He let his head slam into his desk as he let out a loud whimper.

"You don't want to do that."

"Why not?

"The reason why not is that I don't need the aggravation of being accused of assaulting an officer."

"Ah, and here I thought that you actually cared."

"Keep thinking that."

"Besides, is there even anyone who would believe that you assaulted me? Now if it was the other way around…"

It was Horatio's turn to smirk. "If the lab techs are any indication, they would believe it. It turns out that we are pretty decent actors." Rick couldn't help but snicker into the desk as Horatio relayed the conversation he had overheard.

* * *

"Hey Cal, are you ready to go?" Ryan asked, poking his head into the office where Calleigh was working. It was time for them to go home and, since he was the only one without a car, Ryan had been volunteered to give Calleigh a ride home. It wasn't that he minded, which he didn't, it was just that he got the feeling he was being watched as he made his way through the lab.

"Almost. Hey Ryan, could you grab that stack of empty folders for me?"

"Sure thing."

"Once this finishes printing, I'll be ready to go."

"Okay." Ryan would have said more, but he was aware of a crowd beginning to gather outside the office all straining to see what was going on inside.

He glared at them and, as if she sensed that was what he was doing, Calleigh called out to him. "That won't work, trust me. I've tried."

"Then what would you suggest?"

The blonde gave him a small smile over her shoulder. "This." With that, she let her hand slowly drop to where her gun rested on her hip. By the time she had unsnapped the holster and turned around, there was not a single lab tech to be seen.

"See?" She smirked as she snapped the holster back around her gun. "That works."

"Do I even want to know how you discovered that?"

"Aw come on Ryan, it's not that bad." Her smile got bigger at his confused look. "It was an accident really. I dropped my pen and, I must not have snapped it good with everything that is going on, and the holster popped open. Once I snapped it shut, I looked up and they were gone."

By the time Calleigh was finished with her explanation, the printer had spit out the last page. After quickly placing it on top of one of the piles, she began to place them in a bag for her to take with them.

Looking between Calleigh, the empty file folders, and the stacks of papers Ryan finally asked the question that he'd been meaning to ask since he first walked in. "What is all of this?"

"Homework."

"Homework?" There was short pause before he actually figured out what she was talking about. "Oh."

"Yeah, that." She replied, as she grabbed her purse. After digging out her keys, she tossed them at Ryan before picking up the bag which was promptly taken out of her hands. "What was that for?"

"I'll take the heavy stuff, you can carry the empty folders." He answered, ignoring the look that she shot him as she grabbed the folders off of the desk. Ryan then followed the limping figure at a safe distance towards the elevator, only venturing inside because he didn't want to have to take the stairs down to the parking garage.

"Yes, I do realize that you're going to get me back for that." He said, holding his arms up as he stepped into the elevator.

"Good. Just so we're on the same page. So, how did the interview go in the Hart case?"

"At first Jason Daley, our suspect, tried to deny it."

"Isn't that what they all do?"

Ryan laughed. "When Eric showed him the evidence that we had against him, he began to sing like a canary spilling everything that he knew. My guess is that he was hoping to get a deal, but we already knew the information that he was trying to sell to us…"

"…there was no deal to be made." Calleigh finished for him as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

"Exactly."

"They never learn." She commented as she limped over to where she had parked her car. Upon seeing her vehicle she stopped dead in her tracks which caused Ryan to slam right into her back.

"Watch where you're going you big oaf." She snapped, not taking her eyes off of her jeep.

"Sorry Cal, but why did you stop?" He asked, taking a step backwards. When she didn't answer, he followed her line of sight and when he saw her vehicle his mouth dropped open. "What the fuck?"

Someone had keyed Bitch into the passenger side of the Wrangler. Circling around to the other side it was clear that the same person had keyed the word Whore. Pulling out his cell, Ryan hit speed dial. "H, its Wolfe. We have a huge problem. No, we're fine. No one is hurt. We haven't even left the parking garage yet…"

Sighing, Calleigh limped over and took the phone from Ryan. "What he's trying to say is someone keyed my jeep." She explained, her voice was surprisingly calm compared to her partner's.

Snatching the phone back, Ryan shot her a look. "If you're going to tell him what happened, tell him everything okay?" He blinked and stared at the phone. Horatio had hung up on them. "He hung up."

"If I know him, he'll be down here in five minutes or less."

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 11/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Horatio had just finished putting the finishing touches on the last of the paperwork that was in danger of being overdue when his cell phone rang. Without looking to see who it was, he answered it. "Caine."

'H, its Wolfe. We have a huge problem.'

"What happened? Are you hurt? Calleigh? Was there an accident?" Horatio questioned, jumping up and grabbing his jacket.

'No, we're fine. No one is hurt. We haven't even left the parking garage yet…'

There was a short scuffle before Calleigh's voice rang out over the cell. 'What he's trying to say is someone keyed my jeep.'

There was another scuffle before he heard Ryan's voice once more. 'If you're going to tell him what happened, tell him everything okay?'

Knowing that he wasn't going to be getting anymore information out of them, Horatio ended the call. Then, he proceeded to dial another number.

* * *

Rick was just locking the door to his office when his cell phone sprung to life blaring Big and Rich's Kick My Ass. Clearly not expecting his phone to ring, he jumped. "Stetler." He growled into his phone, glad that Rose had left early.

'It's Caine. Something's up and you're needed down in the garage.'

Staring at his phone, he called Horatio's number and growled as it went straight to voicemail. Sighing, he headed for the garage as quickly as he could.

Rick wasn't all that surprised when the elevator slowed to a stop, before he had made it down to the parking garage. After seeing who it was, he stared up at the ceiling as he shook his head. "Why me?"

"Maybe it's just your lucky day." Horatio snarked right back.

"What's going on?"

"Evidently someone was crazy enough to key Calleigh's jeep."

Stetler blinked. "I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly. Someone keyed Calleigh Duquesne aka Bullet Girl's car?"

"You heard me right. We definitely need to have a meeting tonight." Slipping on his sunglasses, the redhead turned to face the elevator doors just as they opened.

* * *

While Ryan and Calleigh were expecting to see Horatio, they were surprised to see Rick even though they shouldn't have been.

"Calleigh?"

The blonde turned to face her boss as he approached her with Rick following him. "What is it Horatio?"

"Is there something you forgot to mention?"

"Maybe."

H just shook his head before his attention was drawn to a growl coming from Stetler. He looked up and saw that Rick was circling the jeep with Ryan following him. "Who the fuck is stupid enough to do this?"

"Can't you find out from the security tapes?" Ryan asked.

"Normally, I could."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wolfe growled.

"It means that this particular parking space is in one of the two blind spots in the entire garage."

"What about the footage of people coming and going?" Calleigh suggested. "And I only parked in that spot because it was the closest one to the elevator.

"And there might be a reflection in one of the mirrors or the hood of a nearby car." Horatio added.

Rubbing his chin, Rick began to pace back and forth. He was muttering to himself as he did so, but none of the CSIs could make out a single word he was saying.

"Rick?"

There was no response. Calleigh and Ryan exchanged puzzled looks, as Horatio tried again.

"Rick Stetler what are you muttering about?"

That seemed to jar the younger man out of his thoughts. "Just thinking."

"Don't strain yourself." Ryan commented before he was silenced by an elbow to his side from Calleigh. Neither noticed a smile forming on Rick's face as a plan began to develop.

"Watch it."

"Ryan…" Horatio sighed as he looked at his trace expert, who was grinning.

Choosing to ignore the comment for the time being, Stetler turned to face Ryan. "Hey Wolfe, do you have a change of clothes at the lab?"

Ryan just blinked, his mouth opened and closed a couple of times. After a few seconds, he finally found his voice. "Yeah, I do. Why are you asking?" He questioned, looking very confused.

"I think I see where this is going." Horatio commented, tilting his head as he looked at his employees.

"I'm not going to like this am I?" Calleigh's voice chimed in.

"Probably not." Stetler admitted.

"Just tell me what the two of you are planning. I'm not a mind reader, ya know."

_That's a good thing._ Rick thought to himself as he cleared his throat. "For the time being, I don't think that it's a good idea for you to be by yourself."

"WHAT?!" Her eyes narrowed, as she punched Ryan in the arm.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the spot where her fist had connected.

"Somehow, this is your fault."

Ignoring his team's antics, Horatio turned to Rick. "I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with you. Ryan, you stay with Calleigh tonight. I'll try and get in contact with Eric later and work something out so that Calleigh is not alone until we find out exactly what is going on."

"That and someone needs to make sure that Cal will take her medicine when she needs it." At the glare, Ryan held up his hands. "Well, it's true. Okay, I'm shutting up now."

"Good." Placing her hands on her hips, she turned to face Horatio and Rick. "Don't I have a say in this?"

"No!" Three voices answered in unison. Calleigh folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

Ryan started to reach for his phone but, before he could even pull it out of his pocket, he found himself pinned against the jeep. "If you know what's good for you, the phone will stay right where it is. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

Both were started by the sudden flash of a camera. Releasing her hold on Ryan, the two of them spun around and were surprised to see H with his camera phone out.

"Say cheese." Rick added from the sidelines.

Placing the phone back into his pants pocket, H quickly slipped back into supervisor mode. "Mister Wolfe, you go get your change of clothes and then take Calleigh home as planned. Rick, you go and get the parking garage tapes and the time clock logs. I'll wait here with Cal until the two of you return."

Once the two of them were alone, Calleigh tried again. "Come on, H, this really isn't necessary."

He didn't reply. Instead, he just took one look at the jeep and then turned his stare on his ballistics expert.

"Okay, okay." She held up her hands. "Can't blame a gal for trying."

Shoving her hands into her pockets, Calleigh leaned against the wall. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her hip was beginning to bother her again.

"Is your hip bothering you again?" H questioned.

She was saved from answering by the arrival of her partner. She shook her head, when she spotted him. "I'm not surprised."

In addition to the duffel bag with his change of clothes, Ryan had his kit with him. He also had a couple extra jars of fingerprint powder.

"This shouldn't take very long."

"Good thinking, Ryan."

"I know that this is necessary but, when we get home, remember this. You are going to be washing the jeep. I don't want to see a speck of fingerprint powder on it when you're done."

"Is this payback for me offering to carry the heavy bag?"

"No." Calleigh replied with a smirk. "I'm saving that for later."

Horatio and Ryan both gloved up. Calleigh started to, because she wanted to help, but Horatio wouldn't have any of it. "You need to rest. Besides, we can handle this. Now, stay put and let the two of us work."

"But…"

"Do you want me to stick you in the lab?" Calleigh folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "That's not going to work on me, Cal."

During the exchange, Ryan was busy taking pictures of the vandalism. He happened to turn around right at that moment, and he couldn't resist. The flash went off startling her.

"Why you little…" She started limping towards Ryan, but Horatio grabbed her as she walked past, being careful of her hip.

"Sorry, Cal, but I need Ryan for this case."

"Yeah," Ryan added. "Besides, you can't destroy this camera. Its department issued and contains pictures that we need on it."

"You're not helping matters any, Mister Wolfe." H stated as he tightened his grip on Calleigh who was once more struggling to get free so she could go after Ryan.

"Can I at least hit him?" She asked once she had stopped struggling. Horatio pretended to think about that.

"We'll see."

"H!"

"Just kidding, Ryan. Just kidding."

"I'm not."

"Will you behave if I let you go?" Horatio asked.

"Of course." Calleigh answered, giving him one of her dazzling smiles.

"Why am I not convinced?"

"Because you're naturally suspicious." She retorted.

Shaking his head, Horatio looked around and was glad that the garage was still empty. "I'm going to let you go now. Calleigh, I want you standing by the elevator in my sight at all times until we are through with the jeep. And Ryan, no more taking pictures that makes Calleigh want to hurt you. Understood?"

The two crime scene investigators chose not to answer. After a couple minutes of silence, Horatio placed his hands on his hips as he looked over his sunglasses at them. "Understood?" He repeated.

"I understand." The blonde replied, still glaring at her partner.

"Mr. Wolfe?"

"I understand."

The redhead released his hold on Cal and straightened up. She stuck her tongue out at Ryan before limping over to the elevator where she leaned against the wall.

"Children…" He muttered to himself as Wolfe returned the gesture.

"Hey H, you going to stand there, or are you going to help me dust the jeep?"

"I'm seriously thinking about letting you do it all by yourself."

"Aw come on…"

When the older man refused to move forward, Ryan found himself thinking about his options. Horatio let him sweat it out for a little longer before he finally moved towards the jeep.

The blonde watched as Ryan took one side of the vehicle and Horatio took the other. By the time the two of them had finished dusting the car, they had used up all of the fingerprint powder. Ryan was glad that he had grabbed the extra jars.

"H, the only prints I have are on the door handle. They're probably ours, but I'll know more in the morning."

"I've got prints on the door handle and the lid to the gas tank."

"You two wait here and don't either of you move from those spots. I'm going to take these prints to the evidence locker, and I don't need another crime scene to deal with."

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, H."

"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing too."

"Sorry Cal."

"You should be."

"Calleigh…"

"All right, all right. Its okay Ryan and I'm sorry as well." Neither man saw that she had crossed her fingers behind her back.

Sighing, Horatio took the stairs. He didn't want to leave the two of them by themselves for very long with everything that was going on. His gut was telling him that the vandalism was connected to the mass email.

Once Horatio had made it to the evidence locker, he logged in the evidence as quickly as he dared to. He was in a hurry, but he was not about to compromise the evidence by rushing.

By the time he had finished cataloging the evidence and made it back down to the garage, Rick had returned. He was standing in front of the stairwell looking between Ryan and Calleigh. "What's going on? Where is Horatio?"

Grinning, he quietly slipped into the garage and soon he was standing behind Stetler. "I'm right here." H whispered into the other man's ear causing him to jump.

"Fuck Horatio! Don't do that!"

"Don't do what?"

"Don't sneak up on people like that."

Stepping in between the two men, Calleigh drew their attention to her. "I hate to interrupt, but Ryan and I are leaving now."

"All right, be careful and call me when you make it home."

"I will Horatio, I promise. But Ryan wants to stop by the store before they close in order to pick up a few things first." At that moment, a horn sounded.

"I'm coming." She shouted, shooting him a look.

"No harming Wolfe, Calleigh." Stetler added.

"Don't worry, I won't. Although, I think I'll have him give the Wrangler a wax job in addition to washing it." She narrowed her eyes. "Even though it won't do much for the vandalism." She added as an afterthought.

Horatio smiled, and gave her shoulder a small squeeze. "Have a good night and don't make Ryan work too hard."

"But that defeats the purpose…" Calleigh's voice was soon drowned out by the Jeep's horn.

"You probably need to get going." Stetler suggested.

"Fine." She said, giving each of the men a nod, before turning around and storming over to her car. She quickly slid into the passenger side and closed the door. It was only after Ryan had started the car and pulled out of the parking space before she poked him in the side.

Rick couldn't help but give a chuckle at the look on Ryan's face as they pulled out of the garage. Once they were gone, he was distracted by Horatio moving around so that his back was facing the security camera.

Taking note of where he was in relation to the camera, Stetler scowled and adjusted his stance slightly. "What do you want now?" He snarled before turning so that the camera didn't have a clear view of his face and both men shared a secretive smirk.

After looking around in order to double check that they were still alone, the older man answered. "Now, you can follow me home. Just be sure that you keep a couple carlengths between us. If we get separated, I'll pull over until you're spotted then we can pick up where we left off. If you suspect that you're being followed just pull into a fast food place and give me a call. Got that Rick?"

"Yeah…"

"Good." Having said what he needed to say, Horatio walked off at a leisurely pace to where he had parked the Hummer earlier.

Rick would have liked nothing more than to walk calmly to his car and get in, but he knew that it was important to keep up appearances. The mass email that had been sent out was proof of that. So instead, he let a scowl form on his face. There was one thing he didn't have to fake. He was irritated because with everything that had gone on that morning, Stetler had forgotten where he had parked his car.

It took a few minutes of scanning around the garage before he spotted the electric blue color of his Ford Focus at the far end of the garage. Once he had spotted his elusive vehicle, he stomped off in its direction.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 12/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Half an hour later, Rick couldn't believe that he was sitting in front of Horatio Caine's house and that he _had_ actually been invited. He was sitting in his car, working up the courage to get out and walk up to the door.

It was only then that he recalled the words that he had uttered when Horatio had startled him. Groaning, the IAB sergeant slammed his head into the steering wheel. When his head hit the horn, it sounded causing him to jump.

"Get a grip on yourself Rick."

"Do I even want to know?" Horatio questioned from outside the driver's side window where he was bent over looking into the car.

Feeling the color rising to his cheeks, Stetler didn't even raise his head. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice muffled.

"I'm here because one, I live here and two, I was wondering why it was taking you so long. You've been sitting out in my driveway for the last ten minutes."

"All right, I'm coming." Horatio said nothing, but quirked an eyebrow at that. Opening the door, Rick used it to push the redhead back far enough so that he had enough room to get out of his car. The younger man wished that he could stick his tongue out at the other man, but he refrained from doing so. As he took a step backwards so that he could close the car door, Stetler accidentally bumped into Horatio.

"Hey Rick?"

"What is it Horatio?"

"I meant to ask you something. You're not allergic to cats are you?"

"No, I'm not allergic. Why are you asking?"

"I have a cat, and just to give you fair warning he doesn't like anyone. I ended up with my fair share of scratches after I adopted him."

"What's the cat's name?" Stetler asked as they walked up the driveway towards the house.

Horatio grimaced. "The people at the animal shelter called him Evil Dick, and they tried their best to talk me out of adopting him. I refused to call him that and named him Richard."

Rick cringed. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what exactly did you shorten his name too?"

H gave the other man a small smile before he answered. "Richie."

Holding the door open, he motioned for Rick to enter. "Richie is around here somewhere. He's not afraid to scratch, so be careful if you see him. Wait here and I'll be back in a few minutes. Want anything to drink?"

"Water's fine."

Rick waited until Horatio had left the room before he began to look around. His attention was immediately drawn to the television. On either side of the DVD player sitting on top of the TV were two photographs. They were the only two photos in the entire room. The subjects of both photos were Horatio and his team. There was one big difference in the pictures. The first was taken at a company picnic and showed Alexx, Calleigh, and Eric laughing at something. Speed was standing beside Horatio and they were both smiling. Stetler's eyes lingered on that one for a few minutes before his eyes drifted to the other. It was taken at a bar and the team was sitting at a corner booth. The two women were sitting on the outside with Ryan sitting by Alexx, Eric beside Calleigh, and Horatio in the middle. They were all smiling, but one could tell that something was missing.

Swallowing deeply, Stetler turned around and headed for the sofa. Once he had taken a seat, he placed his head in his hands and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he felt something land on the couch beside him. Opening his eyes, he saw a solid black cat with brown eyes staring at him. Man and feline stared at each other for close to a minute before the cat jumped into Rick's lap and headbutted his hand. He tentatively reached out his hand and gently scratched the cat on its chin and was rewarded with a purr.

"That's a first." Horatio's voice sounded from the doorway. Rick looked over and was surprised to see the redhead leaning casually against the doorframe without his suit coat. His sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up to the elbows.

"What's a first?"

"The fact that Richie took a liking to someone so fast is a first. It took me a couple months before I could even touch him without getting scratched."

"Sure…"

"Fine, I can see that you don't believe me." The redhead placed two bottled waters on the coffee table and sat down accidentally bumping his leg against Rick's as he did so.

Slowly letting out the breath he had been holding, Rick reached over the side of the couch and picked up his briefcase. During the few minutes that he had stopped paying attention to the cat, it had stood up and jumped onto Rick's shoulders. Opening the case, he pulled out the first tape as well as a stack of papers that was the time clock logs. "My guess is that the vandalism happened sometime after lunch, so the tapes I picked up are from the lunch hour onward until the vandalism was discovered.

The two men began watching the tapes and whenever they saw someone go straight to their car or the elevator without stopping, their name was crossed off the list. At one-thirty, a cop car pulled into the space across and two spaces over from where Calleigh had been parked, and the two cops exited the vehicle and headed for the elevator. Fifteen minutes later, they were walking back to the patrol car escorting someone in handcuffs. After shoving him into the back seat, the officers climbed into the front and left.

The two men continued to watch the tapes and mark off names during the next couple of hours. Both men were slightly disappointed when they ended up crossing Boa Vista's name off of the list. She had been one of the people that the two of them had suspected. They only stopped long enough for Horatio to pay the delivery guy for the pizzas. By the time they had finished watching all of the tapes, Rick groaned. "That was a complete waste of time. We're no closer to finding out who keyed Calleigh's car than we were when we started."

"I beg to differ on that Rick. We know that it wasn't anyone from the lab that had received the email." He showed the log that had names crossed through it as well as a copy of the names that the mass email had been sent too.

"There are still about a dozen names left on the list that aren't employees of the crime lab." Rick pointed out. "There are several police officers and, you know as well as I do, that questioning them isn't going to go well."

"True. Hopefully tomorrow the Jeep will give us something to go on."

Rick groaned. "Why did you have to mention tomorrow. I've got to deal with getting the Snake's statement." He glared at Horatio. "You and I both know that it isn't funny so stop smirking."

* * *

When Eric pulled into Cal's driveway and climbed out of his truck, he frowned. He could hear country music blasting out of the radio in the back as well as the sound of a hose spraying water. Frowning, he looked up and saw that the sun was beginning to sink lower in the sky.

He stood there trying to make up his mind whether to just go around back or try the doorbell and hope that the blonde would answer. He was still standing there five minutes later when he heard her shriek.

His mind made up for him, Eric took off at a dead run where he skidded to a halt when he reached the backyard. Calleigh was soaking wet from head to toe and he saw Ryan running towards him. Before he could ask what in the world was going on, Wolfe dived behind him and the next thing that he knew, she had turned the hose on the pair of them. Calleigh held it on them until they were both as soaked as she was. Once the blonde was satisfied, she turned back to the guys and rinsed the last traces of soap off of the Wrangler.

Delko frowned. In addition to being soaking wet which, despite it being Calleigh who had hosed them, was somehow Wolfe's fault, he wasn't sure why the younger man was there in the first place. It wasn't until Cal had turned her attention back to her Jeep before he noticed the words that had been keyed into its side. "What is going on?" He asked, giving each of them a questioning stare.

"It's a long story." Ryan said with a sigh as Calleigh motioned for the two guys to sit down in the plastic lawn chairs that she had drug out.

"I've got time to listen." Eric replied, crossing his arms across his chest as he sat down.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Long story short Ryan was about to take me home like was agreed upon. However, when we arrived at the parking garage some idiot keyed my car."

After a few seconds of silence, Calleigh spoke up once more. "Actually it's a lot shorter than that. Some asshole keyed my car. See? Printed it, washed it."

"What she isn't mentioning, is that Stetler and Horatio both figured that it wasn't a good idea for Calleigh to be by herself." He ignored the glare he was receiving as he continued. "Horatio said that he was going to try and get in touch with you tonight so that he could work with both of our schedules so that Calleigh is not alone."

As if it was on cue, Eric's phone began to ring. "I'm surprised this thing still works after the soaking it received." He muttered as he pulled it out of his pants pocket. He rolled his eyes as Calleigh gave him a 'who me' look.

"Delko."

As Eric talked to the person on the phone, Ryan noticed that Cal had goose bumps on her arms and he quickly ducked inside. When he came back outside, Ryan was carrying a faded purple towel, that looked as if it had accidentally gotten washed with the white clothes a couple of times, which he wrapped around her shoulders. The blonde shot him a look, but said nothing as she pulled the beach towel tighter.

"Right. I'll swing by and ask them if they need anything and also pass along the message. See you in the morning, H."

Calleigh and Ryan were barely able, but somehow they managed to hold their laughter in until Eric had ended his call. After which, the pair burst out laughing. Delko just glared at them and waited until they had calmed down before he even attempted to speak.

"You two finished?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ryan answered as soon as he had caught his breath.

"Good." Eric said with a smile, doing his best to keep his eyes from wandering from his friends' faces. "I certainly wasn't about to tell Horatio that I was already here. Anyways, Ryan, H said that he was going to have a meeting with me and you tomorrow morning about scheduling watch shifts. Horatio also said that from what the two of them could see from the footage, none of the people in the lab that had appeared on the emails sent to list had performed the vandalism."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "That still leaves, what, several cops and anyone else that got the email?"

"We'll find who did this." Eric added, his voice determined.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 13/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Stetler cursed as he pulled into his normal parking space. The morning had started out well, but about halfway to the lab, one of his tires blew out. Changing the tire cost him about an hour and, when you add on the fact that he had popped a seam in his pants when he bent over to pull the spare tire out of his trunk, he wasn't in the best of moods.

Rick hoped that he had a change of clothes up in his office but, knowing his luck, chances were good that he didn't. Even though the elevator had been empty, he had taken the stairs. He wanted to use the time to think. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by a raised eyebrow from Rose.

"What happened to you?"

"My car had a blowout and I had to change the tire."

"It looks like the tire won."

"Thanks, I think." He replied as he headed for his inner office.

"Rick, Miss Boa Vista is in your office waiting for you. She said something about giving a statement."

Rick seriously considered turning around and taking the day off. He started to open the door, before changing his mind and shutting it. He turned to face his secretary. "If anyone comes looking for me, please send them in immediately."

"Yes sir."

Stetler closed his eyes and made a silent prayer for someone, it didn't matter who, to interrupt the meeting. Afterwards, he reached into his pocket and switched on the tape recorder. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and froze.

Natalia Boa Vista was sitting on his desk. He opened and closed his mouth but nothing would come out. She had swept everything off of his perfectly organized desktop creating a huge mess on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, once he found his voice.

"I'm here to give my statement."

"What on MY desk? GET OUT!"

"But…"

"Don't give me any buts. I'll take your statement after I get my desk back in order."

Natalia slowly climbed off of the desk, but Rick had his back turned towards her. She allowed her eyes to travel up and down his backside. Stetler didn't see it because he still had his head out the door talking with Rose.

"Rose, could you please come in here and help me straighten up the mess that Ms. Boa Vista made in my office?

As she walked past, Natalia noticed the split in the seat of his pants. Giving a small smirk, she poked it as she strode past causing Rick to give a startled yelp.

"Don't touch me." Stetler snarled.

"You need to loosen up some." She muttered under her breath as she roughly pushed her way past Rose. The older woman just shot her a look before disappearing inside Rick's office to help him. "Stupid twit," she muttered as she closed the door behind her.

Since neither of them had anything pressing to do, they came to an unspoken agreement about taking their time to clean up the mess. Kneeling down, Stetler began picking up the loose sheets of paper and organizing them while Rose was gathering up the items that were scattered across the floor. The two of them worked in a comfortable silence and, twenty minutes later, Rick couldn't think of anything else that could postpone the inevitable.

Rose had to take a step backwards when she opened the door to keep from being knocked to the ground by a stumbling Natalia Boa Vista. The young woman barely managed to keep her balance and stop herself from falling.

"So, now you've added eavesdropping to your resume." Stetler replied dryly as he folded his arms across his chest.

"It's not what it looks like."

"Save your lies for someone who cares. Here is what is going to happen. I'm going to take your statement and then you are going to leave my office."

"But…"

"There will be no buts about it. I'm sick and tired of you and your damn games. You will give me your statement and then you are going to leave. If you can't agree to those terms, then you are free to turn around and leave now."

The young woman muttered under her breath as she walked past the secretary and took a seat. Rose glared at her, but left the office without saying a word, closing the door behind her. Stetler sighed as he took a seat in his chair.

"Where should I begin?" Natalia asked.

"The beginning of the incident would be nice."

Boa Vista stood up and began pacing back and forth across the office. "I was simply minding my own business." She purposely ignored Stetler when he snorted and muttered "since when" under his breath.

"All I was doing was picking up the wet floor signs in the lab."

"Which brings up the question of why you chose to mop the floors before the shift began instead of waiting until afterwards like you usually do?"

"I had plans for after work, and I wanted to get out early for a change."

"What exactly were these so called plans?"

"I went to go see a movie. Happy now?"

"Not really." Rick stated rather matter-of-factly. "What movie did you go see?"

Natalia frowned. This was not going anything like she had planned. "The movie I went to see was Last Holiday."

The janitor knew what she had to do. She stopped her pacing around the office and, before Rick could do anything, she had come to a stop behind him. He was now trapped between his desk and the snake.

"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed.

"Giving my statement along with something that I know we both want."

"I'm not surprised that you didn't make it onto Horatio's team if you think that I want anything to do with you. As much as I don't like him, Horatio Caine isn't a fool nor is he easily fooled."

The hand that had been gently caressing his face suddenly stopped in its tracks. "What? How did you?"

Stetler smirked. "Hello, IAB. I keep tabs on everything that goes on in this lab. I have to admit, though, that I found it hilarious to hear that you couldn't hit the broadside of a barn."

Gritting her teeth, so as not to lose her temper she began to caress his face again. He tried to move his head out of her range but Natalia used her other hand to keep his head completely within her reach.

When Rick started to call out for Rose, a hand clamped across his mouth. "Shush, we don't need any interruptions."

As soon as the hand covered his mouth, he reacted. Just as Stetler bit down as hard as he could, the door to his office opened.

"What is going on here?" The new arrival asked.

"H, why did you have to stop so suddenly?" Calleigh complained, after stumbling into Horatio after his abrupt stop.

"Lieutenant Caine, this… this asshole just bit me."

Stetler was busy spitting into his empty coffee cup. "I think I'm going to need shots."

Horatio had to fight to keep a straight face at that. He waited until Rick was finished spitting into the cup before turning to face the younger man. The two recent visitors were blocking the only exit to Stetler's office.

Boa Vista was frowning. Nothing was going like she had planned, but she could improvise. Natalia was holding her injured hand, trying to stop it from bleeding. "Don't you believe me?" She asked, trying to pull off an innocent look.

"I believe in evidence, not people. Now, please step out away from behind Sergeant Stetler."

Rick smiled. "Well Lieutenant, you are in luck. I have some evidence for you."

He pulled the tape recorder out of his pocket and rewound it before hitting play. Natalia's face blanched as she heard everything from the moment Stetler entered his office to the moment when the two crime scene investigators entered the office.

After stopping the tape, Stetler pushed back his chair and stood up. "Ms. Boa Vista what do you have to say for yourself?"

"You can't fire me." She replied when she realized that she was busted, before smirking and folding her arms across her chest.

"That may be true," the Internal Affairs sergeant admitted, "but it also proves that you can't be trusted. At this point in time, I cannot in good faith take your complaint against Ms. Woods. Additionally, there are no witnesses that have come forward saying that she hit you. All that I have to go on is what I saw, and that was you about to hit her."

Rick then turned his attention to Horatio and Calleigh. "This is by no means me saying that your team was in the right. In fact, I still think that you are hiding something from me. But, that is beside the point. Why are the two of you in my office?"

Calleigh took a step forwards, sliding past Horatio as she did so. "We're here because it smells as if someone dumped an entire bottle of bleach in my ballistics lab."

"What?" He asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's true. I had something that I needed to discuss with Calleigh and when I walked into her lab, the smell was so strong that my eyes began to water immediately."

"This is in addition to the vandalism of your vehicle in the parking garage?"

"Yes sir."

"Has anything else happened that I should know about?"

"No."

Turning around, Stetler glared at Boa Vista. "Did you have anything to do with either incident?"

Natalia's eyes widened as she held up her hands. "No, I haven't. I swear."

She closed her eyes, pretending to think for a moment. "Although, there is something you might find useful. When I came in this morning, there was a bottle of bleach missing from my cart."

Pulling a key ring out of his pocket, Rick unlocked the middle drawer of his filing cabinet where he pulled out a bottle of aspirin. After fighting with the child proof lid for a few minutes, Stetler finally managed to get the lid off and he poured himself a handful. Rick stared at his hand for a few minutes before dumping all but two back into the bottle.

"This day just went from bad to worse." He muttered before swallowing the pills. "Boa Vista, just go."

"But…"

"No, I don't want to hear any more of your lies. Just put some antibiotic ointment on that hand, and remember I have evidence that supports me if you try to make something out of it. Oh, and a little bit of advice, don't ever try and give me another statement that you've rehearsed."

When the janitor realized that she was gaping at him, Natalia snapped her mouth shut. She then narrowed her eyes and stormed out of the office slamming the door behind her. Rick waited a few minutes before walking over to the door and opening it.

"Hey Rose, I've got some damage control from that mass email to work on. Can you see to it that we are not disturbed?"

"I'm on it."

"Thanks."

With that accomplished, Rick ducked back into his office and closed the door behind him. Sighing, he leaned back and hit his head on the door before turning to face the ballistics expert.

"Have you found anyone yet?"

"I've got quite a few possibilities. Sorry, there's nothing definite yet. I'm in the process of running background checks on the first batch."

Rick nodded, before sharing a glance with Horatio and clearing his throat. "Please get back to me as soon as possible. I'm worried that she'll try something else. For some reason, I don't think that the mass email is the only thing that woman has up her sleeve."

"I will." Calleigh promised. She still couldn't believe it. There was someone messing with her because of the stupid email that had been sent out.

The two men watched the young woman as she left. Once she was gone, Horatio walked over and closed the door.

"What else is going to happen?" Stetler asked as he unlocked another drawer of his filing cabinet.

"I don't know." The redhead admitted, before raising an eyebrow when Stetler pulled a duffel bag out of the drawer.

"What?" Rick asked without looking up. He could feel the other man staring at him.

"What's the deal with the duffel bag Rick?"

The younger man groaned. He should have realized that Horatio would be asking questions. "I need a change of pants." Rick blinked. That wasn't what he meant to say. "Change of clothes. I meant to say I need a change of clothes."

"I'm sure that you did."

Rick growled when he saw Horatio's smirk. "Don't flatter yourself."

He blinked again. "SHIT!" This wasn't happening. When he dared to look at the redhead again, he could feel his face getting hot. H's smirk, if anything, was bigger.

"_Get Out_!" He shouted, wanting nothing more than to crawl under his desk and never come out.

The older man slowly turned around and took his time leaving Rick's office. The secretary watched him with narrowed eyes as he walked past her and out the door. Once he was gone, she stood up and went to check on Rick. What she found was him digging around in his duffel bag, his face beet red.

Whirling around on her heels, Rose turned and left the room. She'd check back in on Rick later. Right now, she had one Lieutenant Horatio Caine to find and question.

By the time Horatio had made it back to his office, he could tell immediately that something was off. For one, the blinds were closed when he knew for a fact that he had left them open that morning. Cautiously, he entered his office with all his senses on alert.

His eyes narrowed when he saw that his chair was turned around so that the back was facing both the front of the desk and him. He saw just the smallest amount of brownish gray hair poking up over the chair so Horatio figured that his surprise visitor was a woman.

"Lieutenant Caine, you might want to close the door unless you want the entire lab to overhear our discussion." His suspicion was confirmed when the person in his chair finally spoke.

Feeling a bit like a child who had been caught doing something wrong, Horatio closed the door and locked it. When he turned around, the Lieutenant was greeted by the stern gaze of one Rose McCall.

"What is this about Mrs. Rose?" The redhead inquired.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what this is about. But, I'll humor you. I don't know what was said, but after you left Rick was digging around in his duffel bag. His face was the reddest I have ever seen." She stated, narrowing her eyes.

"It wasn't anything I said or did that caused him to blush." Horatio tried to explain, but it sounded pathetic even to him.

Rose stood up and walked over to stand in front of Horatio. Though she was only five foot tall, she could be intimidating when she wanted to be. "Really now?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Then what exactly was it?"

"It was… I mean…" Horatio took a deep breath. He could feel his face getting hot and he just knew that he was blushing.

Putting the clues together, Rose gave a small smile which quickly turned deadly. Looking up, she stared Horatio in the eyes. "Rick has been through a lot and I will not see him hurt anymore if I can help it. Do you understand me?"

"I understand perfectly Mrs. Rose."

"Good." Having said all that she needed, the secretary casually walked past Horatio.

"I don't believe it. She is as bad as Alexx." He muttered under his breath, as his hand drug across his face. Horatio didn't notice the small smile that had appeared on the other woman's face indicating that she had heard what he had said.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 14/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: Maj. Paul, Beck, and rascalflattsgurl43. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

During the next two weeks, Calleigh spent dividing her time between the 'special project' for Stetler and the occasional case that Horatio let her work.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked over her shoulder to see Eric standing in the doorway. Although he had his back to her, she knew that he was watching the employees that were in the main part of the lab. Horatio and Rick weren't any closer to catching the culprit and she knew that unless something changed, the creep would get away.

Speaking of the jeep, she had taken it to the garage that morning to get it fixed. Even though it would take longer, Calleigh decided to get her jeep painted a different color. With everything that was going on, her friends might have tried to talk her into picking a less noticeable color than the one she chose, but Calleigh didn't care. It was definitely eye-catching and they would find out in about it in about three to four days when she picked up her vehicle.

Closing up the folder that she had just finished looking at; Calleigh tossed it into the pile that she had designated as not a chance. Sighing, the blonde pulled a ponytail holder out of her pants pocket and pulled her hair back before returning her attention to the laptop in front of her.

She was making notes in the file she had set up for the project when the computer beeped indicating she had a new message. The noise startled the ballistics expert who knocked one of the piles to the ground. Calleigh cursed herself for being so jumpy but she knew that the reason behind it was the fact that the results from her tests were due sometime this week.

"You okay?"

"Yeah Eric, I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting an email, that's all."

"Are you still getting them?"

Giving him an affirmative nod, she looked up to find that although Delko was still standing in the doorway, he was now focusing his attention on her. Since the mass email had been sent out, she had been receiving threatening emails. At first, there were several coming in on a daily basis but now Calleigh was only receiving a couple about every other day. Additionally, since she was never left alone, nothing else had happened. Stetler was hounding everyone in the lab on a daily basis trying to discover the person behind it.

As if on cue, the elevator doors pinged open and the man in question stormed out. The two crime scene investigators shared a smile as the lab quickly emptied out. Most of the lab techs had noticed that Rick was grouchier than usual and they chalked it up to him not only having to help Horatio's team but also having to work with them to discover who was harassing Calleigh.

Eric watched as Stetler snarled something to a poor intern who mumbled something in response before storming off in the opposite direction. The older man's eyes searched the lab before his eyes came to rest on the layout room where the two were holed up. Once he had spotted them, he began to march in their direction.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out finding the person who is harassing Calleigh?"

"Believe me, Mr. Delko, this is the last place that I want to be. But there are some things that I need to discuss with Mrs. Duquesne here." The IAB Sergeant growled as he entered the room, closing the door behind him as well as the blinds.

Once they had their privacy, Cal clapped her hands and gave him a small smile. "You deserve an Oscar."

Rick chose to ignore the comment, instead turning his attention to the crowded table. "How is the search going? Please tell me you have some good news." He asked, walking over to stand between the two crime scene investigators. When Calleigh looked up, she couldn't help but giggle at the look he was giving her. Even Eric found it amusing.

"Wow, I didn't know it was possible for you to make puppy eyes Stetler."

Ignoring Eric, Calleigh walked over and picked up a couple of the files. "So far, I've placed three names in the 'Not a Chance' pile and I have two possible candidates." She replied, handing the folders over to the older man. "I'm still running names, so there may be more possibilities that I haven't gotten to just yet."

"I see. Good work." Rick replied, before a concerned look appeared on his face. "Have there been any more incidents happen recently?"

The blonde swallowed. Surely he didn't know. He couldn't know. "No, nothing has happened since the bleach."

"So you haven't gotten any emails lately?" Stetler inquired.

"What? How did you hear about that?" Cal was caught off guard. The only two people that knew about them were Eric and Ryan, and she had made them promise not to tell Horatio or Alexx. Her hand slowly closed into a fist while she glared at Eric.

Rick just smiled. "I have my sources but, just to save Eric a punch to the arm, it wasn't him."

"Ryan." Calleigh growled.

"Just remember, you didn't hear it from me."

"She received one just a few minutes ago."

The ballistics expert opened her mouth to yell at Eric when her cell phone rang. After extracting it from her pocket, she gave it a look, but made no attempt to answer it.

"Cal, aren't you going to answer the phone?" Eric asked.

The sound of her friend's voice seemed to snap Calleigh out of her stunned silence. Mouthing the word 'doctor', she answered the phone before turning her back to them while lowering her voice to a whisper. Both men were fighting their instincts to rush to her side, knowing that if they did so she'd rip them a new one the first chance she got after she was through with the call.

The minutes seemed to drag by as they watched her. After what seemed like hours, she snapped her phone shut and turned around to face them. The blonde took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "I think we need to have a meeting."

"You got the results, didn't you?" Rick asked after the silence became too much.

"Yes and no." The ballistics expert admitted. "The results are in, but they refused to tell me over the phone."

Rick nodded. "I pretty much expected that. I'm going to go and let Horatio know before making my way down to the morgue."

"Calleigh, why don't you start packing this stuff up and I'll call Alexx and Ryan while you do that?" Eric suggested.

"Okay."

The three shared a look before Rick took a deep breath and walked over to the door. Throwing one last look over his shoulder, he jerked the door open so hard that it rattled on its hinges.

"The next time you receive a threatening email, call me. I don't like having to help Lieutenant Caine's team, but I WILL NOT be the one explaining to him about how one of his trusted team members kept something like this to herself." Still muttering under his breath, he stormed off towards Horatio's office where he didn't even bother knocking. Rick just barged in, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I'll have to call you back." The redhead told the person on the other end. "I just got a surprise visit from Internal Affairs." Horatio chuckled at something that the caller had said before placing the receiver in its cradle.

"Did you know that Calleigh has been getting threatening emails?" Rick questioned the older man fully aware that the blinds were open.

Horatio blinked, before standing up. "Say what?"

"Didn't Calleigh and the others tell you that she's been getting threatening emails?"

"No," H replied dryly. "They failed to mention that to me."

"I kind of figured that by both Calleigh's reaction when I asked her about them and yours just now."

"Speaking of which, how exactly did you find out about the emails Rick?"

Noticing that a couple of the lab techs were blatantly staring in their direction, Rick fought the urge to run a hand through his hair and instead placed them on his hips. He shot the redhead a glare, which was purely for their audience's benefit, before answering the other man's question.

"I passed Wolfe earlier and he asked me if Calleigh had come to me with any complaints. When I said 'not since the bleach incident', he made a face. So, naturally, I asked why. That's when he told me about the emails she had been getting. Your ballistics expert wasn't too thrilled when she discovered that I knew." Stetler replied with a frown. If the situation hadn't been so serious, he would have been amused at the look on her face.

Horatio had a good view of the layout room from where he was standing, so he was the first to notice when Eric and Calleigh left the room. "Excuse me, but I need to have a talk with my ballistics expert."

Stetler grabbed Horatio's wrist as he walked past, wincing slightly at the look he received.

"Why did you grab my arm Rick?"

"Because Calleigh mentioned needing to have a meeting, which was the main reason behind me barging in." The younger man explained as he released his hold on Horatio.

"The morgue?"

"Yes." With that, he stormed past Horatio slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

"What's taking them so long?" Calleigh asked as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"I bet they're arguing about something." Eric commented as he leaned up against the wall.

"You're probably right." Alexx agreed before narrowing her eyes, as she stepped in front of Calleigh. "You have an idea on what it's about don't you?"

The blonde said nothing, but refused to meet the older woman's gaze. Crossing her arms, Alexx turned her attention to Ryan. "What is going on?" She demanded.

"I… um…"

"Come on, honey just spit it out."

"I… I asked Stetler if Calleigh had come to him about anything. When he said that she hadn't, Rick asked why. So I ended up telling him about how she was getting threatening emails."

"How come no one thought to share this with me?"

"We wanted her too, but Calleigh made us promise not to tell you or Horatio. Although, I did find a loophole."

"Who exactly does 'us' consist of?"

"Eric and myself." Delko winced at the mention of his name, but wisely kept silent even though he needn't have worried. Alexx was too busy focusing her attention on Calleigh.

"Baby Girl, why didn't you want us to know?" she asked, hurt evident in her voice.

She was saved from answering the question by Rick's arrival. The ballistics expert knew that she wasn't off the hook and that she'd be facing the music once everyone had arrived.

"Horatio is on his way down."

"Good. Maybe between the five of us, we can get Cal to listen to reason."

Calleigh spluttered when she heard Eric's comment. However, before she could respond H arrived. He walked over and stood between Rick and Alexx.

"Threatening emails?" He asked, skipping the usual greetings and friendly banter.

"I didn't want to worry y'all and they really weren't all that bad. Basically, a lot of them came down to name calling."

The former enemies shared a look before the redhead cleared his throat. This wasn't how they wanted to bring up their suspicions, but the men knew that it had to be done. "Cal, honey, this is important. What if they stepped up from the emails to abandoning you at a scene that you were working?"

The younger woman knew that her boss had a point, but she wasn't ready to give up just yet. "How do we know for a fact that it was a cop who sent them? It could have been anyone that knows my official email address with the exception of you guys. The culprit could be anyone in the lab."

Rick took a step forwards. "We watched the security footage of the parking garage. It wasn't any of the lab's personnel." He grew silent as an idea dawned on him.

"Do you think the person who messed with my Jeep is the same one that sent the emails?"

"Honestly, yes."

"Wonderful." She muttered under her breath.

"Cal, sweetie, we just don't want you to get hurt. There was an abduction out in Vegas and I don't want to see anything like that happen to you. And his was from an outside force."

"Fine, you made your point. I should have said something, I know that now. So what are we going to do?" She asked as Alexx walked over and gave her a hug.

Stetler watched the two of them. He waited until the two of them separated before he spoke up. "Someone should go with you to get the results." A pained look appeared on his face for a split second and then it was gone. "No one should be alone for that." The medical examiner noticed the look but said nothing, whereas the redhead knew Rick was thinking about his mother.

"This was why I wanted to have a meeting." Calleigh hurriedly explained when she noticed Ryan was about to say something. He quickly closed his mouth, her statement essentially answering the question that he was about to ask.

"I received a call from Dr. Cates' office earlier. The results are in and they would like to see me this afternoon. I do have one little problem."

"What's that?" Eric asked.

"I need a lift. My car is in the shop getting repainted."

Before anyone could offer to take her, the silence was broken in the most obnoxious of fashions. First, Alexx's beeper went off followed shortly by Horatio's cell phone and finishing with Rick's.

The three CSIs shared a look before turning their attention back to the others. Stetler was pacing back and forth as he talked in low voice. H was also talking in a low voice, his eyes narrowing as he received the information. Meanwhile, their resident mother had pulled out her phone and was returning the page. After jotting down some notes, she ended the call before dialing another number.

"Something is up."

"Thank you Mister Obvious." Eric commented as he continued to observe the unfolding situation.

"We'll probably find out soon." Calleigh replied.

Sure enough, a few minutes later Horatio and Rick were both finished with their calls. They both had matching grim expressions on their faces.

"What is it?"

"There was an officer involved shooting." Horatio stated grimly.

"An Officer Jessop is injured, but his partner, Officer Glisson, was killed." Rick added.

"What about the perps?"

"Dead." Alexx added, her face showing the pain that each and every one of them felt when a cop lost their life in the line of duty.

"Calleigh, we'll find someone we trust to take you to the doctor. Unfortunately, none of us will be able to."

"It's okay, I understand." After briefly closing her eyes, she looked up. "I'll be back after the appointment." She replied, determination evident in her voice.

"Rose!" Rick's surprised exclamation startled everyone.

When Horatio looked up, he blinked before glancing over at Stetler. "What is she doing here?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Hon, I'm glad you're here. We have a small situation. The five of us have to go to work, but Cal needs someone we trust to go with her to the doctor. We all agreed that she should have a friendly face when she goes to her appointment. Could you please go with her?"

"I sure can."

"We'll reschedule lunch for another day."

"That's fine, Alexx."

Upon hearing that, both of the older men blanched. Ryan, Calleigh, and Eric shared a confused look. Why would that worry them? Suddenly, Ryan gave a small start. "Crap." He muttered.

"What is it Wolfe?"

"Think about it, Delko. What if Rose is to Stetler, how Alexx is to us?"

"We're doomed." Eric groaned as the realization of what Ryan was trying to say sunk in. The blonde sighed dramatically and gave him a pat on the back.

Ignoring his team, Horatio turned to face his medical examiner. "How long have the two of you known each other?"

"It's been about two weeks Horatio." Rose nodded in agreement at her friend's answer.

The redhead's mind immediately counted back two weeks and he recalled the secretary waiting for him in his office. When H recalled the comment that he had made as Rose was leaving, he bit back a groan. H could also tell that he was blushing slightly. He could only hope that none of the others would pick up on it.

The small alcove where they were standing wasn't as brightly lit as the rest of the morgue because one of the fluorescent bulbs had blown earlier that morning. Horatio took a step backwards so that he was standing in the shadows when Rick leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Just what exactly happened two weeks ago?"

"Rick, just try and remember." Was all H would say on the matter as he raised an eyebrow at the younger man.

Stetler narrowed his eyes as he thought back trying to recall just what exactly Caine was talking about. As soon as he remembered the event and what he had said, his eyes flew open and he began blushing as well.

Horatio snickered at Rick's reaction earning him twin glares from the mother hens which sobered him up rather quickly. This, in turn, caused the younger man to chuckle until they turned their gaze upon him as well.

Rick cleared his throat and glanced down at his watch. "We need to get going. The crime scene isn't going to stay preserved for very long especially when this is going to be all over the news."

"Eric, Mister Wolfe, let's go." H stated once he had given Cal a supportive squeeze on her shoulder, then he too was gone.

The two men shared a look before turning towards their friend. "I'll be fine." She promised them before making a shooing motion with her hands. They gave her a nod before hurrying off after Horatio.

Alexx was busy quickly giving Rose directions to the doctor's office, when Calleigh walked over to them. "If you have any trouble, just ask Calleigh."

"I don't think I'll have any trouble, but I'll keep that in mind. Alexx, my friend, you do have a talent for giving directions."

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

* * *

Calleigh and Rose didn't have any trouble getting to their destination. During the ride, the younger woman simply stared out the window and was grateful for the fact that Rose didn't try to make any small talk.

Calleigh was still reeling from how fast things happened once they entered the office. It seemed like the nurses had been lying in wait, as if they were a pride of lionesses ready to pounce at the first opportunity.

As she took a seat on the exam table, Calleigh glanced down at her watch. Less than five minutes had passed since Michael held the door open for her and called them into the back. It wasn't even a full ten minutes from the moment the pair had exited the parking lot and entered the building complex.

Once she had taken her seat, and gotten somewhat settled in, the younger woman called Alexx. Calleigh wanted to let her know that the two of them had arrived without any problems, but mainly she wanted an update on what was going on at the crime scene. She still wasn't thrilled with the fact that Rose was with her instead of the people she considered to be her family. However, if Alexx trusted her then Calleigh was willing to give the woman the benefit of the doubt.

"How are things?" Rose asked, once the younger woman had ended her call.

"Officer Jessop is going to be fine. He received a through and through to his right lower leg." She wasn't going to mention anything about the emails, but the older woman could sense that she wasn't being told everything.

"What else is it that you aren't telling me?"

Calleigh sighed as she pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. "Alexx said that on the way to the crime scene, Stetler called Tyler in early and has set him to work tracing the emails."

"Emails?"

"Threatening emails." The ballistics expert replied, refusing to elaborate any further.

As if sensing the younger woman's reluctance to talk, Rose just nodded her head. "That's good." She replied, folding her arms across her chest. Rose then did her best to try and find comfortable position in the small plastic chair. In the end, even she had to admit it was a futile task.

A short time later, there came a soft knock at the door. Calleigh took a deep breath to settle her nerves before responding, although her voice was lacking its usual upbeat tone. "Come in."

In response to her words, the door opened and Doctor Cates stepped into the room. Calleigh couldn't help but wonder if she would have gotten the same response had she answered with 'open sesame' instead. "Get a grip." The blonde muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes.

"Did you say something?"

"I was just talking to myself."

"Just as long as you don't start answering yourself." Dr. Cates replied with a grin.

"I can't tell you just how many times I've heard that one." Calleigh retorted, just as the doctor noticed the other woman for the first time.

"Who have you brought with you today?"

"I'm Rose McCall. Alexx is a friend of mine."

"I don't recall her ever mentioning you before."

"That's because the two of them have only known each other for a couple of weeks." Calleigh explained. "Alexx couldn't be here today because something came up at work, so she asked Rose to accompany me."

"Duty calls. That is certainly one thing I understand all too well." He replied, shutting the door behind him. The soft click sounded ominous and Calleigh found herself swallowing nervously. Doctor Cates quickly skimmed over her chart before focusing his attention on his patient.

"How have you been feeling lately?"

"Honestly, I haven't been as tired lately."

"That's good." David replied as he pulled out a stool and took a seat in front of his patient.

The young woman took a deep breath. "Can we just skip the small talk and get down to the reason why we're here?"

"I can respect that."

"Good. So?"

With a nod of his head, the doctor laid the chart down on the exam table beside Calleigh. The young man's face was as serious as the conversation that they were about to have.

"So, we've discovered the type of cancer it is that you have. It's leukemia."

"Leukemia." Calleigh repeated, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Yes, Calleigh, I'm afraid so. There are four major categories of this particular kind of cancer. These types are acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and chronic myelogenous leukemia."

"Which one do I have?"

The particular type that you have is acute myeloid leukemia, also known as AML. This is the most common type of the acute leukemias that affects adults. The incidence of this disease also increases with age."

"Can it be cured?" Calleigh asked. The news she was getting still hadn't fully hit her just yet.

Rose shot her a concerned look, but said nothing. The older woman knew that until the team had gotten a chance to get to know her, and until they felt that she could be trusted, anything Rose said was going to be taken the wrong way.

Doctor Cates paused for only for a second, but his patient easily picked up on the momentary hesitation. He held up his hand and carefully worded his response to her question. "It is a potentially curable disease, but there are only a small number of patients who are cured with the current therapy. Right now, our main goal is to cause a remission with chemotherapy. I do, however, think that we caught it in time."

It was obvious to Dr. Cates that what he was saying hadn't hit his patient yet. It was also obvious that the woman with Calleigh wanted to comfort her, but had no idea how. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Tell you what. Why don't you come back in a few days and bring Alexx with you? I'll use that time to research and find a couple good Oncologists to recommend. You can use that time to come to grips with what you've just been told, and also do some research of your own if you feel so inclined."

Calleigh gave the doctor a nod as she gathered up her belongings. While the younger woman was getting her stuff together, Rose stood up shaking the doctor's hand. "Thank you for your time."

The doctor watched the two women walk slowly out of the exam room. There were days where he hated his job with a passion and then there were the days when David couldn't be more proud to be a physician. Today, he felt, could go in the first category.

"Calleigh, can you give me directions to your house?"

"I could Rose, but why do you want to know?" The blonde asked, stopping in front of the other woman's Toyota Corolla.

"I need to know in order for me to take you home. You need to get some rest."

"Look, Rose, I know you mean well, but I'm not going home. I can do more good at the lab than if I was just sitting on the sofa at home. Besides, they're going to need me. Ballistics is my area of expertise."

The older woman sighed and gave Calleigh a small smile. "I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise am I?"

"Nope."

"All right, I'll carry you back to the lab on one condition."

"What's that?" The blonde asked, looking warily at Rose.

"The condition is you eat something on the way to the lab. I'll even pay for whatever it is that you will eat."

Calleigh just stared at Rose for a full minute and then she started laughing. The secretary just raised an eyebrow and waited for the young woman to finish laughing.

"What did you find so funny?"

"I… I don't know. I just felt like laughing, although it is a bit scary that you and Alexx get along so well."

"I'll take that as a compliment. So do we have an agreement or not?"

"We do."

* * *

As the two women neared the crime lab, Calleigh began gathering up her things. She was in the process of crumpling up the empty Subway sack, when Rose pulled into an empty parking space. The younger woman hopped out of the vehicle before Rose had a chance to cut the ignition. The secretary took her time getting out of the car because she had no doubts about where her passenger was headed. Calleigh needed to talk to someone she trusted, and Rose knew that person was one Alexx Woods.

* * *

The medical examiner was just extracting the last bullet out of Officer Glisson's chest, when she heard the door open behind her.

"I'm almost finished with Officer Glisson. I'll be right with you." Alexx called out, not bothering to turn around.

"That's okay, I don't mind waiting."

Upon recognizing her visitor's voice, the medical examiner spun around. "What are you doing here? You need to be home resting, but since it's you, I know that you won't." Shaking her head, she gave her baby a smile.

"What did David tell you?" Alexx asked, before going back to work on her charge.

"He said that I had AML." Calleigh didn't even attempt to try and say the disease's name. She had the feeling that if she had, it would have been butchered beyond recognition. The younger woman went on to describe what all had gone on at her appointment.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Doctor Cates wanted me to come back and the soonest that I could make an appointment was a week from today. He even suggested you coming along with me."

"Did he say anything in particular as to why?"

"Not really. All he said was something to the effect of him using the time to find a good oncologist."

"That makes sense." Alexx agreed. Then, with a smile, she turned to face Calleigh once more. "So how exactly did you convince Rose to bring you back here instead of taking you home?"

"I told her that I could do more good here than at home."

"And…"

The younger woman blushed. "And, I promised her that I would eat something."

"Did you?"

"Yes, Mom, I did."

"Good girl." Alexx said with a smile. "So what did you eat?"

Calleigh sighed, earning her a glare from her adopted mother. "Fine, you win."

She chose to ignore the fact that the medical examiner was smiling in triumph. "I chose a six inch ham sandwich with the fixings."

"How much did you have leftover?"

"Nothing."

"That's my girl. Now, I have a few things for you."

The ballistics expert gave Alexx a sad smile. "Is it the bullets from Officer Glisson?"

The older woman said nothing. She just placed the three small bags in Calleigh's open palm

I'll get right on these. Give me a call when you have more for me to do."

"Don't worry, Sugar, I will."

* * *

Rick Stetler strode purposely through the halls of the hospital looking for someone that could tell him where he could find Aaron Jessop. He needed to get the young officer's statement while the events were still fresh in his mind.

The IAB sergeant passed a couple of nurses who were too busy attending to their patients to even notice him, before he spotted Ryan Wolfe exiting a room just a couple of doors away from where he was standing. The young man had a couple of evidence bags with him.

"Wolfe."

At the sound of his name, Ryan looked up to see who had spoken. "Yes?"

"Is that Aaron Jessop's room?"

The crime scene investigator sighed. He knew that the other man was just doing his job, but he still wasn't used to this new Rick Stetler. After looking around and making sure that there weren't any other uniforms in the immediate vicinity, Ryan answered the other man. "Yes, it is. I'll give you fair warning that you probably won't get much. He didn't say much more than one or two words when I was in there."

Both men tensed up when they heard footsteps approaching, but relaxed when a nurse appeared around the corner. She ignored the two men as she disappeared into the room in question, closing the door behind her.

"I have to get his statement."

Ryan gave the older man a slight nod of his head. "I know. I'm just saying don't expect too much."

Rick watched the crime scene investigator as he walked off. Then he leaned against the wall, waiting for the nurse to finish doing her job so that he could do his. After glancing at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time in past five minutes, the nurse emerged from the hospital room.

"You can go inside." She told Stetler before he even had a chance to ask her about going in. After acknowledging her with a nod, the IAB sergeant knocked. Without bothering to wait for an answer, Rick opened the door and stepped inside.

Aaron Jessop was sitting up in the hospital bed with his leg propped up on a pillow. There was a gauze bandage wrapped around the wound on his leg. He was staring out the window.

Rick wasn't sure if Jessop was ignoring him, or just hadn't heard him come in. Given his reputation, both were distinct possibilities so he didn't know which one it was.

"Officer Jessop."

The young man jumped when he heard his name. _I guess that answered which it was,_ Rick thought to himself.

"What are you doing here?" Stetler had to strain to in order to hear what the patrol officer was saying.

"I need your statement."

"Do we have to do this now? I just lost my partner."

"Unfortunately, we do." Rick walked around the bed to the other side of the room where he stood by the window where Aaron was looking. "You know as well as I do that the more time that passes, the fuzzier the memories become."

"What if I want them to be fuzzy?"

Stetler sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and used the time it took to gather his thoughts. After letting it out slowly, the older man began to speak once more.

"I'm just going to say this once. What if it had been you and James Glisson was sitting in that hospital bed. How do you think he would react in this situation?"

Jessop had been prepared to argue against almost anything Rick could have possibly said. However, as what Stetler said had a chance to sink in, he closed his mouth. He couldn't find a single excuse now. "Okay, I'll do it."

Stetler pulled the tape recorder out of his pocket and placed it on the bedside table. "This is IAB Sergeant Rick Stetler in Room 227 with Aaron Jessop. You can start anytime. Take me through everything that happened."

"I know it sounds cliché, but today started off just like any other. James and I made our morning coffee run before we began making our rounds." Jessop's voice drifted off as he closed his eyes.

Rick fought the urge to groan. Instead, he pulled the plastic chair over to the bed and parked himself in it. "Tell me what happened next."

For a few minutes, Jessop said nothing. Stetler was just beginning to wonder if the younger man had succumbed to the pain meds, when the young patrol officer softly began to speak.

"We had just started making our rounds. James made a crack about the way I took my coffee, which was usual. I joked back that at least it wasn't so strong that it could curl your toes from just one sip."

The young man allowed himself to briefly crack a smile at the memory. It was the first time that he had since the events of the morning. "He just laughed it off, like he always did." Rick could easily picture the bear of a man laughing. James Glisson was one of the few cops that he ever got along with halfway decently.

"We weren't finding anything unusual. I remember because I had made the remark that it was awfully quiet. James shot me a look and his exact words were, 'Boy, don't ever say that phrase. That's one sure-fire way to make all hell break lose.' As usual, he was right."

Stetler allowed Jessop a few minutes, letting him gather his thoughts before prompting him to continue. Jessop poured himself a cup of water and took a sip before resuming.

"We were about a block away from McCauley's Jewelry Store when we noticed a couple of teenagers that were acting suspicious."

"A couple? I thought that there were three."

"If you let me finish, you'll get your answers." The young patrol officer snapped. "I thought that you wanted my statement." Rick just held up his hands, but wisely kept silent.

"As I was saying, we saw a pair of teenagers that were acting suspicious. James pulled the patrol car over, and after turning off the engine, we got out and started over to talk to them."

Jessop took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. Stetler noticed that the younger man's face was growing paler by the minute and, before he could ask him about it, Aaron began speaking once again.

"The two of us had only taken a couple of steps when the taller one pulled a gun. The other teenager quickly followed suit. James made a flying tackle, knocking me to the ground just as the two kids opened fire. I heard him groan a few seconds later."

"There was no time to ask if he was all right. We were too busy trying to get around to the other side of the patrol car. James was already on the other side of the car and I had just about made it to safety, when I felt a sharp pain followed quickly by a burning sensation in my leg which caused me to stumble."

Jessop paused in his retelling to get a sip of water. He was trying to ignore the way his hand was trembling. Now that he had started, Aaron just wanted to finish so he could try and get some sleep providing the nightmares didn't return.

Jessop pointed at his leg before speaking again. "I had been shot. When I stumbled, a bullet slammed into the car right about where my head had been. I made it around to the other side of the vehicle right as James took out the shorter teenager."

"With his partner down, the first guy ducked behind somebody's beat up Oldsmobile and quickly reloaded. I was squatting with the weight on my good leg near the trunk and was waiting for when I could get a shot off at the perp when I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking from behind."

"I…" Here, the young officer's voice finally cracked. "I thought for sure that I was a goner. Neither James nor I had heard the third guy approach. Before I could react, I heard the gunshot." Aaron reached for the glass of water but, accidentally knocked it over spilling its contents onto the sheets.

"The… the next thing I knew I was pinned to the ground by the weight of my partner. He… he was gone. The perp was walking slowly towards where I was lying. I stayed still, but when he got close the kid must have seen me breath because he raised his gun. I quickly got a shot off and he went down."

"I heard the last guy curse as he let loose with another volley of bullets. As quickly as I could I worked my way to towards the hood and cautiously peaked up over. He was still shooting towards where I had been, and I saw the opportunity and took it. When he was down, I called it in and you pretty much know the rest."

Stetler could not think of anything to say once he heard the story of what all had gone on. He could understand why the younger man wanted the events to be fuzzy. What the patrol officer had been through was enough to give anyone nightmares. Rick clicked the tape recorder off and was about to get up and leave when Jessop asked him a question.

"Why would James sacrifice himself for me?"

The question caught the IAB Sergeant off guard. Unsure as he was about how to answer, Rick answered Aaron with the first thing that popped into his head. "He probably saw something in you, so just remember everything that James taught you and you'll do him proud." With that, Stetler left the room closing the door behind him.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 16/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy

**Beta(s)**: refreshingbeverage/occipitallobe.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Three days later, Calleigh found herself resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she was once again being chauffeured home. This time, her driver was Alexx.

Horatio and Stetler were no closer to finding the culprit and that was frustrating H more than he let on. At least they still didn't have to worry about the shootout anymore. Calleigh was able to prove that the evidence that was collected collaborated with Jessop's Statement. The young officer was now on a temporary sick leave.

The young woman was jarred out of her thoughts by the small bump when Alexx pulled off the street and into Calleigh's driveway. Alexx pulled the car in and parked it behind Eric's truck.

"Thanks for the ride, Alexx. I hope that I don't have to be a bother much longer,"

"Oh Honey, it's not a bother. The team is a family and we look after each other now you go on inside and check on my boys."

Alexx was rewarded with a genuine smile from Calleigh. For such an optimistic person, they had been rare of late.

After unlocking the door, she wasn't surprised to see Ryan sprawled out on her couch fast asleep. He had just finished a triple that morning. Evidently it was his turn on the couch. He and Eric had been alternating between sleeping in the guest room and on the couch. Neither of them willing to kick Calleigh out of her bed, and they both fussed at her when she suggested that she take the couch.

Quietly she closed the door behind her, slipped out of her shoes, and deposited her things on the table by the door. Afterwards, she followed her nose into the kitchen where she found Eric cooking. Although she had no idea what he was making, it sure smelled good.

Folding her arms across her chest, Calleigh leaned up against the door frame and watched as Eric worked on their supper in her kitchen. He was wearing an old pair of denim shorts and an old stained white sleeveless shirt. Eric was moving about the kitchen like he was at home in it. That was a fact about her coworker that she hadn't known before, but it was one that she and Ryan had both come to appreciate.

"You going to just stand there and watch, or are you going to help?"

"I think I'll just watch."

Eric just turned around and grinned. "Oh no you don't," he said with a laugh. "You know the rules. If you come into the kitchen when I'm cooking, you help. Make yourself useful and chop those onions."

"If I wasn't getting a choice, why ask?" Calleigh retorted with a smile.

"I just felt like asking."

The blonde headed to the small table in the kitchen and took a seat. Then, with a grin, she began attacking the onions.

"So, when did you learn to cook?"

Delko gave a soft chuckle. "Are you kidding me? Growing up with three older sisters, the kitchen became my safe haven when they all ganged up on me. Momma started teaching me so that I could help her, but it wasn't long before I began to enjoy it."

Trying to ignore the burning sensation in her eyes, Calleigh continued to work on dicing the onions. "So out of all the kids, who's the best cook?"

It was a good thing that Eric had his back to his friend, because that question prompted him to blush. "Well…"

"Well, what?"

"Well, they all say it's me." He had to stifle a laugh. "Did I tell you about the time my oldest sister tried to bake a cake?"

"No, what happened?"

"We had a small fire. Luckily, Momma had the extinguisher handy. Poor thing, she can't even boil water. When the instructions said to 'grease the bottom of the pan', she took it literally and did exactly that. Needless to say she's the only one of us that is banned permanently from the kitchen."

The two friends shared a laugh. "I can see why." Calleigh agreed.

The onions had finally got to Calleigh. Her eyes were not only burning, but they were watering as well. She stood up and quickly walked over to the sink where she turned on the cold water and splashed it in her face. When that didn't help, she knew she had to go outside for a while.

"Hey Eric, I'm going to step outside for a little while."

"Are the onions getting to you?"

"Yeah."

Eric grinned. "Well then, shoo!" He said as he shooed her out of the kitchen.

Calleigh laughed softly as she exited the kitchen. She was about to head upstairs when her cell phone began to vibrate. For once, she was glad that she had forgotten to switch it over to loud ring. Switching gears, the blonde headed outside since she knew it was the place where she would least likely be overheard.

"Hello."

'Is this Ms. Duquesne?'

"Yes, it is. Who is this?"

'This is the Halls Body Shop and we're calling to let you know that your jeep has been repainted. It is ready for pickup whenever you can make it here.'

Calleigh snuck a glance at her house before turning around. The blonde knew that her 'family' was worried about her. However, the fact remained that she had either one or both of them staying with her and that was making her feel like she was suffocating. Calleigh was ready for a break and as nothing major had happened while she had her friends 'baby-sitting' her, she figured a quick trip to pick up her car and drive it home would give her a few moments of precious freedom.

"I'll call a cab and be there as soon as I can. Thanks."

'Have a good day. We'll see you shortly.'

Once she had ended the call with the repair shop, the blonde dialed the cab company. After glancing at her watch, Calleigh quietly slipped inside where she grabbed her purse. Then, just as quietly headed back outside where she took a seat on the porch. For the first time that Calleigh could think of, the taxi arrived in a decent time frame. After glancing over her shoulder, she told the driver to step on it as she climbed inside the vehicle. Neither she nor the cab driver noticed the black vehicle that began following them at a safe distance about two streets from her house.

* * *

Eric was busy with the meatloaf. Normally he would have the radio on when he cooked, and even though he wasn't a fan of country music Calleigh had threatened him against changing the station. She was the only person he knew that could threaten someone while smiling at the same time. The reason the radio wasn't on, was because he was trying to let Ryan rest. He knew how it felt to work triples, and Eric also knew that the stress was that much more because of the fact that a pair of officers they knew had both been shot. One of them fatally. By the time Ryan had walked through the door after his shift had ended earlier, he looked like the living dead. It was enough to draw out the protective nature he had usually only shown towards Calleigh, which surprised him.

Having just put the meatloaf in the oven, Eric was about to head upstairs when he heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. Frowning, because he knew that they weren't expecting anyone he walked over to the kitchen window and peaked out.

Delko's mouth dropped open when he saw Calleigh getting into a cab. He saw her briefly glance back toward the house before saying something to the driver and jumping inside. A few seconds later, the taxi sped off.

For a few seconds, he couldn't think, much less react. Then, react he did. "SHIT!" He shouted.

Almost as soon as he shouted, he felt bad about it. There was a loud thump, followed by a muffled curse, which was then trailed by a question. "What is going on Delko?"

"Get in here and I'll tell you." Eric called back, as he turned off the oven and put the meatloaf in the fridge for later.

There was something in Eric's tone that warned Ryan not to say something sarcastic back. Rubbing his head where he hit it on the floor, Wolfe stumbled into the kitchen still half asleep. "What?" He asked. When there was no answer Ryan looked up again and saw Eric looking at him. After looking around and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he tried again. "What is it and where's Calleigh?"

Eric just happened to look up when Ryan stumbled into the kitchen. The normally immaculate Wolfe's clothes were rumpled and his hair was sticking up in every possible direction imaginable. He just kept looking at his friend and coworker until Ryan finally spoke.

Wolfe's question was the spark that lit him into action. Shaking his head, he quickly filled Ryan in on what had happened in the last few minutes.

"Shit."

"Yeah that pretty much sums it up. We need to find her before something happens. We need that like we need a hole in our heads."

"Yeah, H would kill us if something happened to her when we were supposed to be watching her."

"And at this point, Stetler would probably help cover it up since she was trying to find a replacement for the Snake."

The two friends shared a look and shuddered before getting down to business. Ryan grabbed his cell phone out of his pants pocket, suppressing a shudder and trying to ignore how his clothes were wrinkled. He began making calls to Calleigh's friends while Eric repeatedly tried her cell phone.

"She's either ignoring my calls or something's happened because Cal isn't answering." Eric said, snapping his phone shut as he resisted the urge to hurl it into the nearest wall.

"You know we have to call him."

"Yeah, and I'm not looking forward to it."

"Still, we have to let him know."

Eric gave him a small smile. "Good, then you can call H." With that, he placed his phone in Ryan's hand.

"You know Eric, I think you better call as you were the one that was awake when all of this was happening. I'll go change into a new outfit and then we can start searching for her."

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome."

* * *

The blonde was impressed when she finally saw it. The body shop did an excellent job painting her vehicle; and if she hadn't known better, Calleigh would have thought that the fire engine red color of her jeep was the one it came with.

After paying her bill, she collected her keys. A glance down at her watch revealed that she had only been gone about twenty-five minutes, but she knew that Ryan and Eric were probably having a fit and were already out searching for her, if they weren't calling for reinforcements.

As Calleigh pulled out of the shop's driveway, she was presented with two options. She could take the direct route home, or she could take the scenic route and enjoy a few more of the precious moments of freedom. Without a second thought, the ballistics expert took a right turn and headed out towards the Everglades.

For a while, she was content to just drive along admiring the scenery and breathing in the fresh air. There were hardly any vehicles around now, and when Calleigh caught a glimpse of light reflecting off something behind her, it stood out. Frowning, the ballistics expert glanced in her rearview mirror and noticed the black hummer that was trailing behind her.

Almost instinctively, her training kicked in. As soon as she could, Calleigh made a right turn onto another side road. When the other vehicle did the same, the blonde narrowed her eyes in anger and fear. One turn was suspicious, but it wasn't proof that she was being followed. Casually, she reached down with her left hand to make sure that her phone was still in her jeans pocket as she made another right turn. She desperately wanted to call someone, but knew she had to pay attention to everything around her right now. After glancing once more into her rearview mirror, and seeing the black hummer still behind her, she muttered one word that summed up everything that was going through her mind.

"Shit."

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 17/?

**Author**: wolfsong98/Amy/Calleigh

**Beta(s)**: **refreshingbeverage****/****occipitallobe**.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Rick slowly climbed up the porch steps and knocked on the door. To calm his nerves, he set his briefcase down and adjusted his tie. He reached down to pick up the case when Horatio answered the door.

Stetler opened his mouth to tell the older man something but, the words died in his throat. Rick was so used to seeing the redhead in suits that seeing Horatio in a pair of faded Wrangler jeans and a gray short sleeve t-shirt definitely caught him by surprise.

Giving his head a slight shake, Rick gathered his wits and said, "Tyler finally got me the logs of everyone who was using the computers at the workstation where the emails originated from."

Horatio stepped aside so that Rick could enter before closing the door and locking it behind him. Out of habit, the redhead also slid the chain lock into place. "Well, let's get started looking over them then."

Rick took a seat on the sofa and suddenly found himself with a lapful of cat. The younger man just raised a single eyebrow. "This is the mean cat you were telling me about last time?"

Horatio sighed. "I wasn't exaggerating. Not sure why he took to you so quickly, but as much as Richie would like to be the center of attention, we have work to do."

"How do you propose moving him?" Rick asked, pointing to the cat that was curled up in his lap with only the tip of his tail twitching.

Without saying a word, the redhead turned and headed into the kitchen. Rick smirked when he heard the can opener start and the almost sleeping cat was off his lap and in the kitchen like a flash. He chuckled when he heard the door to the kitchen click shut. "He's not going to be very happy with you later."

Horatio shrugged as he walked past Rick and over to his desk. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a couple of Post it pads. He tossed one to Rick, who clearly wasn't expecting it, and he fumbled with it before letting it fall onto the couch next to him.

Rick picked up the pad and placed it on the coffee table next to his briefcase. He opened the case and removed a stack of paperwork. Rick went to split the stack in half and almost dropped it when he felt the couch sink as Horatio sat down next to him.

He nervously swallowed since he had expected the redhead to sit across from him in the recliner. His attraction to Horatio would make it hard for him to concentrate on the task at hand, but he would do his best to ignore it.

Rick handed half of the stack to Horatio being careful not to touch the redhead's hand. Afterwards, he turned his attention to the other half looking for any connection to the ominous emails and Calleigh.

He tried to concentrate on the words in front of him. However, Horatio kept bouncing his leg and every once in a while, it would hit Rick's. The younger man would grit his teeth whenever that happened because it was bringing up thoughts that the brunette knew that he shouldn't be having. Rick didn't know if Horatio swung that way and the last thing Rick needed was to do something that would kick start their rivalry once more.

It was during one such an instance that Rick spotted the pattern. With a smile, he sat up straighter. "I think I've found something."

"Really?" Horatio asked. Just when he started to put his stack on the table, one of the names grabbed his attention. After looking over it and a couple other files, he also picked up on a pattern.

"Yes, really," Rick drawled with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He was going to explain, but the expression on Horatio's face stopped him. It was the look Horatio got when he was onto something. "What is it?"

"I think that I noticed a pattern as well."

Rick couldn't help but be a little disappointed. However, he didn't let it show. "Is it Ken Harbor?" He asked.

Horatio had opened his mouth to agree, but the name that Rick suggested was not the same that he had spotted. Frowning, he went over the papers again and indeed both names popped up as being at the workstation when one of the emails had been sent.

"I think our problem might be bigger than either one of us thought."

"Why?" Was the first word that managed to escape his mouth. Then, as the words of what Horatio said registered, "What are you talking about?"

"Because while Ken Harbor's name also coincides with the emails, so does one other name."

Running his hand through his hair, Rick turned slightly on the couch. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. Who is it?"

"Aaron Jessop."

"Did you just say Aaron Jessop?"

"I did."

"As in the Aaron Jessop who was just shot a few days ago and is still in the hospital?"

"The very same."

"Damn it." Rick growled. "There's is no telling whether they are working together, separately, or one trying to frame the other."

"Exactly. That's my point."

Stetler sighed. Instead of getting simpler, things were getting more complicated. Something was nagging at his thoughts and it wasn't until his leg got bumped once more that he realized what it was. "Fuck."

"What is it?"

"Word has come down as to who Jessop's new partner will be when he comes back. It's Harbor."

"What's their connection to Calleigh?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. Neither of them have come to me with any complaints or anything of that nature."

"Then we have some work to do."

About the same time that he spoke, Horatio's leg bumped against Rick's leg once more. The younger man, who for most of the evening had been ignoring the thoughts sparked by this inadvertent contact, couldn't take anymore. He reacted.

He grabbed Horatio by his shirt and pulled him close. This took Horatio by surprise, and as the redhead opened his mouth to inquire about it, Rick dipped his head and rested his lips on Horatio's. For a few moments, he encountered neither resistance nor acceptance, and then Horatio kissed him back.

Rick moaned into the kiss, and then his self preservation kicked in. He broke off the kiss and jumped off the couch like he had been shocked. "Shit!"

Horatio sat there licking his lips as he tried to process what had just happened.

Meanwhile Rick was pacing back and forth across the redhead's living room all the while muttering to himself. "Damnit, I'm so screwed." He dared to glance in Horatio's direction and the he grin that had appeared on Horatio's face was enough to send Rick heading for the door.

It had only taken a few moments for Horatio to recover from the surprise of being kissed and process it. When he had, he had grinned.

Rick was too busy fumbling with the door chain to notice that Horatio was stalking towards him. He couldn't get it undone and cursed his hands for being so clumsy.

Thus distracted, Rick couldn't help but yelp when a hand grabbed his right shoulder and spun him around. He rested against the door as his brown eyes stared into Horatio's crystal blue ones. He closed his eyes and waited for Horatio to hit him.

When the expected blow never came, Rick cautiously opened one eye. When still nothing happened, he opened his other eye and swallowed deeply.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he could get a word out, Horatio had grabbed him by his tie and pulled him in close for another kiss.

It was a good thing that the door was behind Rick providing support because if it hadn't been there, it was a good bet that he would have been flat on the floor.

To say that Rick was surprised was an understatement. But, it was a pleasant surprise. One he definitely welcomed. It wasn't long before the younger man found himself dueling with the redhead over control of the kiss. By the time the two men broke for air, Rick's legs felt as if they were composed of jelly.

"C…" Rick tried to say couch, but evidently the link between his mouth and his brain had stopped working. Instead, the younger man pointed a trembling finger at the piece of furniture in question.

Horatio smirked. "Couch?" He asked, as his eyes took in Rick's disheveled appearance.

All Rick could do was nod his head in agreement.

With a twinkle in his eyes, Horatio wrapped his arm around Rick's waist and was about to lead him over to the couch when the younger man pulled H closer until they were looking into each other's eyes.

As the two men stared at each other, they could literally feel the tension around them getting thicker. Unable to bear it any longer, Rick leaned in for another kiss. He just had to know what Horatio tasted like.

It was addicting.

Even as they were kissing each other, the two men continued to stumble over to the sofa. Neither man was able to keep their hands to themselves. During all of this, Rick was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that his pants were getting uncomfortably tight. As Horatio pulled Rick closer, the two men lost their balance and tumbled onto the couch. Almost as soon as they landed, the couch groaned. Before the vibrations that occurred when the two men landed had ceased, there was a loud pop. Following the pop, Horatio groaned in pain as he jumped up dumping Rick onto the floor.

"Well, that certainly killed the mood." Stetler muttered to himself as he attempted to pick himself up off the floor. Once he had succeeded, the younger man looked over at Horatio. The redhead was busy rubbing his back side and glaring at the sofa. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Rick's eyes darted to the couch and he couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the spring protruding from the couch cushion.

"It's not funny." Horatio growled.

"Actually," Rick said with a grin, "it is. Want me to kiss it?"

"Tempting." Horatio's eyes twinkled as he turned around to face him. Rick blanched, yelping as H's arm shot out and grabbed him by his suit jacket and pushed him forwards. He winced, as he landed on the spring. Rick wasn't given the chance to recover because as soon as his back hit the couch, H was on top of him.

For the first time that night, Rick couldn't help but wish that Horatio was in one of his suits so that he could grab him by his shirt collar and pull him close. So, he improvised. Quickly snaking his arms behind the other man's head, Rick laced his fingers behind the other man's neck and started to pull him closer.

The older man quickly got the hint, and licked his lips in anticipation. Letting Rick continue to guide his head, their lips quickly met. This time, there was no battle for dominance as the younger man allowed H control of the kiss and enjoyed every second of it. All too soon, the pair had to break for air.

"Wow." Rick commented, his husky voice causing Horatio to smirk. "I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"The smirk. I saw you smirk."

"Really? Which smirk was it?" The older man replied with a chuckle.

"It's the one that you're sporting right this minute." Instead of waiting for a reply, Rick slowly let his mouth get closer to Horatio's. In the split second before their lips met, an obnoxious, extremely loud ring began to sound. After listening for a few seconds, they determined that it was coming from H's cell phone on the coffee table.

"Damn it," Rick muttered to himself as the cell phone was quickly joined in by the redhead's home phone.

"Looks like you're quite the popular fellow tonight." Rick commented as he stole a quick glance at the caller ID. When he saw that it was Calleigh, the younger man reached for the cell phone. "I'll take this, you get the other one."

"This had better be good." Rick growled into the phone ignoring the look that the redhead shot him as he grabbed the cordless phone off of its base. Stetler just stuck his tongue out, and smirked when H had to clear his throat before answering the phone.

'Uh… Sorry? Meant to call Horatio, must have dialed your number by accident.'

Rick winced when he heard Calleigh's voice. Instinctively, he knew that something had happened. He just wasn't sure what. "Calleigh, what's going on?"

'Someone…' He frowned when he heard her take a deep breath as if she was trying to keep herself calm. 'Someone ran me off the road.'

"WHAT?!" Rick shouted into the cell phone at the same time that Horatio shouted it into the home phone.

'Jeesh, give a gal some warning the next time you shout. I think I'm partially deaf now.'

"Sorry," Stetler muttered, shaking his head. He had a billion questions running though his head and was trying to figure out which ones to ask first.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Where's Eric or Ryan? What exactly happened?" When the questions came, they tumbled out in a rush.

'I think so. I'm just a little sore from where the airbag shot out and slammed into me. The next question is a little tricky. I remember leaving the Hall's Body Shop and taking the back roads. At some point, I noticed a vehicle behind me. It… it looked like a black hummer. So, I made a couple right turns and when it did the same I realized that it was following me.' He could hear her as she took a couple deep breaths.

"Go on." He said, hoping that his voice sounded reassuring. It was difficult considering that the younger man rarely ever tried to reassure anyone.

'I sped up, hoping that I could put enough distance between us. Well, the hummer sped up as well. I tried to get out of its way, but the driver must have anticipated my reaction.'

"Why do you say that?"

'Because the next thing that I knew, the air bag deployed and I'm trapped in my jeep.'

"What do you mean trapped?"

Rick could hear Calleigh sigh. When she began speaking, it was slow as if she were speaking to a child. 'I mean just that. The jeep is pinned between a tree and the hummer. Also, my seat belt is stuck.'

Stetler narrowed his eyes as he became aware of the fact that she had answered all of his questions save one. "Calleigh, you answered most of the questions that I asked except for the main one. Where is Eric or Ryan?"

'I… I left them at home.'

Stetler closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten. "Why did you do that when you knew that there was a possibility that someone was after you?"

'Because nothing had happened, and also because of the fact that I was never left alone and it felt like I was being suffocated.' Rick got the distinct impression that the blonde was glaring at him as she spoke into the phone.

"Don't go anywhere, I'm going to get Horatio and we'll be there as soon as we can."

'What part of _I'm trapped and can't go anywhere if I wanted_ don't you understand?'

* * *

"It's the one that you're sporting right this minute." Before Horatio could reply, Rick was slowly letting his mouth advance on the redhead's. In the split second before their lips met, an obnoxious, loud ring began to sound breaking the silence and it was coming from the direction of the coffee table. The two men quickly realized that it was Horatio's because Rick's phone was somehow still in his jacket pocket.

It was only then that Horatio truly understood a comment that Calleigh had made once a few years back. If he wasn't mistaken the phrase she had used was "There are times when the blasted thing will ring and in those moments I'd rather shoot it than answer the phone."

"Damn it," Horatio was jarred out of his thoughts by Rick's muttering. He fought a groan as his cell was soon joined in by his home phone.

A quick glance at the cell's caller ID showed that it was Calleigh. "I'll take this one, you get the other." Rick suggested as he grabbed the cell phone. Since Calleigh knew about the truce, Horatio had no qualms about letting the other man answer the call.

"This had better be good." After shooting the younger man a glare, Horatio picked up the cordless phone and hit the button, answering it.

"Caine."

'H, its Eric.'

"What can I do for you?" Horatio's eyes narrowed when he heard the younger man swallow deeply before speaking into the receiver.

'Well… You see…'

'Just tell him. Drawing it out isn't going to make it any easier.' Horatio heard Ryan snap at Eric.

"Tell me what?" He asked, frowning into the phone. The redhead could easily picture the Cuban giving Wolfe a glare.

'What Wolfe is trying to say is… Well, there is no easy way to say this. Calleigh, well, she snuck out on us.'

"WHAT?!" The shout was joined in by one coming from Stetler. Looking in his direction, H shot the other man a questioning look. In response, Rick held up one finger as he attempted to get more information.

"Tell me what happened." Horatio demanded, easily slipping into supervisor mode.

'Okay.' There was a brief pause where the younger man gathered his thoughts together. 'As soon as Wolfe came in, he crashed on the sofa.'

"That makes sense given that he just finished up a triple and I had ordered him to go home and get some rest. Then, what happened?"

'As you know, Alexx brought her home. I was in the kitchen getting supper started when Cal appeared in the doorway. We bantered some, and then she started helping me with the meatloaf.'

"I see."

'Everything was going smoothly until she started chopping the onions. They started to get to her, causing her eyes to water. After excusing herself, she went outside. I was still tinkering around the kitchen. I didn't think much of the fact that I hadn't heard anything out of Calleigh until I heard something that caused me to look out the window.'

"What was it?"

'The noise that I had heard was the crunch of gravel as a vehicle pulled into the driveway. I looked up in time to see Cal briefly glance back at the house before jumping inside. The cab then sped off. Wolfe and I are about to go out and start looking for her.'

"Wait just a moment." The redhead spoke into the phone as Rick was trying to get his attention.

'What do you mean wait a moment? What is it?'

When H spoke up, his voice was strangely calm and that caused Delko to shudder more than it would have had the older man raised his voice. "It seems that someone has run Calleigh off the road and she's trapped in her vehicle."

'Shit. Where was this?'

"We're not sure and, for that matter, neither is Calleigh." Horatio paused as if he was listening to someone before once more passing along the information. "She remembers leaving the body shop where her car was being worked on and taking the back roads. After that, she's not sure. Calleigh said that she noticed a vehicle behind her and after making a few turns confirmed that it was following her."

'No need to say it. We're going to grab our kits and see if we can find out where she is.'

"I'll be searching as well. And Eric…"

'What?'

"You get to call Alexx and let her know what's going on."

'Oh, shit.'

Horatio chuckled as he ended the call. He saw Rick staring at him out the corner of his eye. "What?"

"Here it was, I thought that you valued your team."

"Hey, he messed up. Besides Alexx won't kill him, but she will make sure that the next time he's supposed to keep an eye on someone it won't be as easy for them to escape."

"True." Stetler winced as he thought about how the medical examiner was going to react when she heard the news.

"What is going on inside of that thick head of yours?"

"I really should insist that when we find her we call in another team…" Rick started, but was quickly interrupted. "Don't you growl at me. I'm not finished yet."

The redhead just blinked. "Well?" He asked, motioning for the younger man to continue.

"I was saying that while I really should insist that we call in either swing or night shift, the fact is that we both suspect someone with connections to the lab is after her for some unknown reason. Until we find out who did this, I'm not going to turn things over to someone that I'm not sure can be trusted."

Rick couldn't help but smirk at the look on H's face. "Flustered is a good look on you. Pity it isn't one I get to see often. Although, you might want to close that mouth before the flies get in."

Horatio quickly snapped his mouth shut and glared at Rick. "You should realize that by now I've become immune to the Horatio Caine death glare. You've used it on me so much."

Instead of replying, the redhead stalked past the younger man and grabbed his keys off the table by the door. "Get a move on. We've got a wayward ballistics expert to find." He growled.

Knowing that the other man was right, Stetler dug his keys out of his pocket and followed Horatio out the door. While H was locking the door, Rick tried to make himself look slightly more presentable. Once he had accomplished that task he stalked towards his car, pushing away all the thoughts of kissing Horatio for the time being.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 18/?

**Author**: wolfsong98

**Beta(s)**: **refreshingbeverage****/****occipitallobe** and Hybryd0. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Eric ended the call and was about to slam his head into the wall when Ryan stepped in front of him. "What is going on?"

"Calleigh's been run off the road, she's trapped, and Alexx is going to kill me."

"Wait, WHAT?! Please explain to me what is going on?"

"Evidentially some idiot ran Calleigh off the road. H wants us to get our kits and try to find her." Ryan was surprised when he was tossed the keys to Eric's truck.

"What was that about Alexx?"

"H wants me to call her and inform her of the situation."

"Shit."

"Exactly. Mark my words, if she kills me I'm coming back as a ghost and haunting Calleigh. After all, this whole mess is her fault for running out on us."

"So, when are you going to call?"

"Once we're on the road."

"Smart move."

"Thanks, I think."

* * *

Ryan was thankful that he wasn't the one that had to call Alexx. Although he was driving, Ryan could hear everything that the medical examiner was saying to Eric on the phone and that was saying something when the phone was NOT set on speaker.

Eric was only able to end the call after promising to call her as soon as he had any news. After dropping the phone into the empty cup holder, he began to rub his ear which was still ringing.

"You okay?" Ryan asked, not taking his eyes off the road. The last thing he needed was to have an accident in Eric's truck.

"I'm fine, just dealing with the fact that my ear is still ringing." The two men had been driving along the back roads for a while now. They had been checking in with Horatio every little bit but so far they had found zilch.

"Wait a minute, Ryan back up."

"What? Did you see something?"

"I think so." Eric answered as Ryan carefully reversed the truck. Eric exited the vehicle and walked over to the junction where the two roads met. He knelt down and stared at the ground a few minutes before standing and dusting off his hands on his shorts.

"Want to turn down the road and see if we can spot anything?" Ryan asked when the other man hopped back inside the vehicle.

"It can't hurt." As soon as those words had left his lips, the truck began to advance. "You could give me time to buckle my seatbelt."

"I don't drive that bad."

Any retort that Eric had disappeared when he saw another side road. "Turn there."

"Why?"

"H mentioned something along the lines of Calleigh made a couple of right turns and…" Eric grabbed the 'oh shit' handle and shot Ryan a look as the younger man made a sharp right turn.

"Don't give me that look." Ryan growled as Eric continued to glare at him. "Fine, I did that on purpose to annoy you. Now, are you happy?"

"No, I'm not. You're not going to be driving my truck again anytime soon."

Ryan smirked. "You'll change your…" His voice trailed off as he spotted a vehicle in the distance.

"I'll change my what?" Eric asked, before following Ryan's line of sight.

As they drew closer the two men could just barely make out a Jeep that was pinned between a Hummer and a tree. Eric was out of the vehicle with his gun drawn before Ryan had a chance to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. Ryan quickly put the truck into park, killed the engine, and was right behind him.

The two men cautiously approached the Hummer with their guns drawn. After verifying that it was empty and there weren't any bodies inside, they holstered their guns and hurried over to the pinned Jeep.

"Calleigh! Calleigh are you okay?"

"Eric? Glad you're here. I'm fine. Stuck, but fine."

The two men shared a look and, after they had each confirmed visually that she seemed to be okay, Ryan nodded and he went to get their kits. Eric took a deep breath to steady his nerves and then reached for his cell phone only to realize that it was still in his truck's cup holder.

"Looking for this?" He heard Ryan ask. When he looked in the younger man's direction, Eric saw the phone sailing through the air. Easily catching the phone in his right hand, Eric flipped it open and hit speed dial.

"Who are you calling?" Calleigh asked, as she continued to try and release her safety belt.

Her friend said nothing, just held up a finger to his lips. Eric fought back a smile at her reaction.

'Caine.'

"H, we found her."

'Good. How is she?'

"She seems okay as far as we can tell. Calleigh's been assuring us that she's fine, but you know how she is."

'Tell Calleigh to stop glaring at you and that she will be going to the hospital to make sure that she really is fine. Where are you?'

Eric passed along Horatio's message along to Calleigh and enjoyed the look on her face before he gave his boss the directions to their location.

'Good work. We'll be there in a few minutes. In the meantime, I'm going to call it in. You might want to give Alexx the heads up.'

"I'm calling her next. Do you want us to start on the vehicle that ran her off the road?" Eric blinked. "'We?'"

'Stetler's tagging along. Actually, he's currently following me and we are almost there.' There was a short pause as Horatio contemplated answering the younger man's question. 'As much as I hate to say this, perhaps it would be better if you waited until we got there. That way, if it comes down to what we find, Stetler can testify that the evidence was collected fairly.'

"How'd he hear about it anyway?"

'We were trying to determine who sent the emails out when we heard from Calleigh about the same time that you called.'

"Hey, Ryan." Eric called out as soon as he had finished talking to Horatio.

"What is it Eric?"

"H wants us to hold off on examining the vehicles until they get here."

"'They?'"

"Yeah, 'they'. Stetler is tagging along."

"It still feels weird that he's being nice."

"Tell me about it, but remember once rescue gets here its showtime."

Ryan nodded, but then he frowned in confusion. "Why would H want us to wait?"

"Think about it. We're going to be allowed to process the scene mainly because someone is after Calleigh. Horatio wants to make sure that no one can use conflict of interest on how evidence is collected…"

"…and the best way to do that is to wait until Stetler is here." Ryan finished up Eric's train of thought.

"Come on guys, you don't know that this is connected to the emails."

"And you don't know that it wasn't, Calleigh." Eric retorted. Now, if you excuse me, I have to call Alexx." When Eric saw her confused look, he sighed. "Your little disappearing act got me in trouble."

The blonde wisely stayed silent, but turned a questioning look on Ryan who quickly filled her in on the events that transpired after her little escape. Then, he gave her a slight smirk. "If you thought that it was hard for you to sneak away the first time, just wait until we get you out of that Jeep."

"Don't you –"

"Calleigh, Alexx says to stop protesting. You snuck out and got run off the road. Face it, you're stuck with us. She also said that not only does she have some words for you later, but Rose does as well."

That silenced any protests that she had. In fact, she just turned her head at Eric and stared. Eric folded his arms across his chest and stared right back at her.

"That's not right." She told him, once she had found her voice.

Eric just shrugged. "Sorry Cal, Alexx's words… not mine." He told her after ending the call and stuffing the phone back into his pocket.

It was at that moment the three crime scene investigators heard the sound of motors approaching. Both men tensed, their hands instinctively reaching for their guns. They only relaxed when they noticed that it was a CSI Hummer approaching them followed by a much smaller Ford Focus.

The Hummer came to a rest beside Eric's truck and Stetler parked his car behind the two vehicles. "Gentlemen," H said, nodding at the men as he quickly exited the vehicle. After he visually confirmed that Calleigh seemed to be all right as she claimed.

Stetler was right behind him. Rick was pleased to see that although trapped and getting very annoyed at the way everyone was acting, Calleigh seemed fine.

Horatio turned so that he was facing Eric and Ryan. "Gentlemen, we don't have much time before the scene is compromised." As if to emphasize his point, they all looked up when they heard the distant sound of sirens approaching. "Eric, dust for prints and get what you can from the Hummer. Ryan, check for any shoeprints and take the perimeter around the Hummer."

"You got it, H." Ryan replied as he opened his kit and pulled out his camera.

With a nod, Stetler took a deep breath. The two men squared off as Horatio entered Rick's personal space. The younger man had to stomp down on the urge to lean over and kiss him. They still had a lot to talk about, but even he was certain that H wouldn't want his team to know every detail of his personal life and, quite frankly, neither did he.

Placing his hands on his hips, Rick mimicked the other man's posture. It was then that the first patrol car pulled into view. Rick had to fight back the smirk when Horatio winked at him as the two patrol officers nervously exited their vehicle.

"Your team has a conflict of interest Horatio." He stated, although the Lieutenant's name came out more as a growl than a spoken name.

"Rick, Rick, Rick." Horatio said, stepping closer to the other man in an attempt to hide the shudder that ran through his body at the way in which Rick had spoken his name was spoken. After shaking his head to clear his mind of the thoughts that were running through his head, he shot the IAB sergeant the look that Stetler had nicknamed the Horatio Caine Death Glare.

"You and I both know that someone is after my ballistics expert. For all we know, it could be someone on one of the other shifts. I'm not going to risk compromised evidence that could allow her assailant to get away to have another shot at harming her."

Stetler let out a low growl. "Fine. You made a valid point…" Rick took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I can't believe I just admitted that." Rick was purposely ignoring the smirk that Horatio was sporting. "However, I will be overseeing the collection of the evidence. If we manage to arrest the idiot stupid enough to mess with you guys, then I don't want them getting off on a technicality." With that, the younger man stormed over to the black Hummer and carefully watched the two CSIs who were doing their jobs.

H carefully made his way over to stand by the Jeep's hood. He just stood there and stared at his ballistics expert. She was looking in every direction save the one where her boss was standing. Horatio was a patient man, but the current situation wasn't allowing him the opportunity to outwait his colleague.

"Calleigh." Though he only spoke one word, she could detect frustration, disappointment, worry, and even a trace of anger in Horatio's voice.

Upon hearing her name, Calleigh couldn't help but wince. She didn't want to face him, but in the end, she found herself looking in her boss' direction.

"What?"

"You do realize that you messed up, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do realize that. I've had a lot of time to think about things. My Jeep's totaled, and looks like if everyone has their way Eric and Ryan are moving in. Am I correct?"

"That's part of it."

"'PART'? What do you mean by 'part'?" If it wasn't for the fact that she was still stuck in the cage formed by her Jeep, the steering wheel, and the seatbelt, she would have been standing toe to toe with her boss.

Horatio just glared at her. "Calleigh…"

The blonde wasn't the least bit fazed. She just glared right back at him. "Horatio…"

H just gave her the small smile of his that usually meant he was up to something. When Calleigh noticed it, she stopped glaring at him and narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning?"

"Remember when I said 'If you do something stupid, you will be confined to the lab'?"

Calleigh's face blanched as she stared at Horatio. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Horatio, you can't be serious."

"I can be and I am. You deliberately snuck out of your house, leaving behind two frantic and worried coworkers. You're also extremely lucky that you weren't seriously injured. This was just plain stupid. Effective immediately, you're on lab duty for a week. If you don't cooperate, I can and will extend the length of time." Calleigh said nothing, but she continued to glare at her boss who just glared back with his hands placed on his hips.

"I agree with Horatio, Calleigh." Alexx's voice surprised the younger woman. She turned her head and saw that the older woman was standing on the other side of the Jeep across from H. She was just about to give Calleigh a piece of her mind when she heard someone clearing their throat behind her.

"Sorry to interrupt," Ryan apologized. Holding up his camera, the younger man shrugged. "Grouchy over there insisted that I get pictures of Calleigh in the Jeep as well as the point of impact before the rescue crew gets here. They just radioed in that their ETA is five minutes."

"Wolfe, we haven't got all day. Take those damn pictures."

"See what I mean." Ryan grumbled, lifting the camera as he began to snap the photos.

Horatio had to fight the smile as he turned the ferocity of his glare towards Stetler who just narrowed his eyes before storming over to where Eric was working.

"Excuse me ladies, Ryan." H said, giving each of them a nod before he stalked over to Stetler was standing behind Eric and looking over the young man's shoulder.

Ryan quickly finished snapping the necessary pictures before walking off in the opposite direction. He had already listened to Alexx read Eric the riot act, and Ryan had no interest in listening to her give one to Calleigh.

"Traitor," she hissed.

Ryan couldn't help but give her a wave as he continued to walk back towards the road.

"Calleigh, look at me."

Knowing that it was best in the long run if she obeyed Alexx, Calleigh turned her head so that she could look at her. The older woman was already irate and that was scary.

"Honey, you really gave all of us a scare. Do you realize that we could have lost you and there was a chance we wouldn't have known about it until much later?"

"Alexx, I'm… I'm sorry. I never meant to worry you guys. I just needed to get away for a little while."

The medical examiner continued to give the younger woman a stern look just to make her squirm a little longer. When she felt that Calleigh had been made to squirm enough, Alexx reached into the vehicle and gave her a one-armed hug. "I know you are honey."

"Rick, you do know that peering over my team's shoulder isn't going to get the evidence collected any sooner?" Horatio asked exasperation evident in his voice.

"I know _that_ Lieutenant. I just want to make sure that the evidence is collected properly."

"Are you implying my team isn't good at their jobs?"

"Of course I'm not. I'm simply stating that they're emotionally involved, as are you. This has to be handled delicately and you should know that."

"H, I got something."

"What is it Eric?" Horatio asked, as he walked over to stand beside him.

"The steering column was wiped clean, but they forgot about the door handle."

"Well, I think I can safely say that we aren't dealing with pros here." Stetler commented as he fought the urge to grin at the news.

"Nice work. We just might have our first break."

Before anyone could say another word, the fire and rescue truck arrived on scene followed by an ambulance. Eric stood up, handing the fingerprints that he had just collected over to Ryan.

"Delko, see about getting that vehicle towed to the crime lab." Stetler ordered, ignoring the glare from the redhead.

Instead of replying, Eric simply turned towards his boss. "H?"

Horatio sighed. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he knew that he had to phrase his words carefully. "We do need to make sure that it gets to the crime lab."

"All right, H." The lieutenant would have had to be blind to miss how Eric's eyes kept drifting over to where Calleigh was. In fact, it wasn't just Eric. Both men, despite doing their jobs, kept looking over at the Jeep as if to verify that their friend was still there.

Horatio made a decision at that moment, even though the decision itself meant more work for him in the long run. The older man waited until Eric had finished up with his call before he motioned for him and Ryan to come over to where he was standing.

"What is it H?" Ryan asked.

Before Horatio could answer, the whine of a machine springing to life broke the silence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Stetler was stalking back over to where the three men were standing. It was obvious that he had been bothering the rescue crew from the hand signals the older man observed, brief as it was.

"What do you want?" Eric growled at the internal affairs sergeant as he approached.

Placing his hands on his hips, Rick glared at the three men. "I'm wondering why the three of you are just standing here and not doing anything worthwhile?"

In the distance, Stetler saw one of the two patrol officers that had been first to arrive slip something that looked suspiciously like money to the other officer. However, before he could address them, Horatio was standing in front of him mirroring his own posture.

"I'm wondering if it's possible for you to do your job without pissing anyone off." Eric muttered under his breath.

The comment earned him a glare from Stetler. However, before he could retaliate, H gave his subordinate a look. "Eric…"

"Yes, H?"

Before Horatio could reply, a loud cheer went up. Turning his head, he could see that the rescue crew had managed to free Calleigh by prying the door off of the Jeep and cutting out part of the steering column. He had to fight a smile at the site as the blonde tried to wave off the paramedics carrying the backboard and Alexx, in turn, lecturing her.

"Eric, I want you and Mister Wolfe to go to the hospital. It's plain to see that you're both worried about Calleigh."

"What about the car?" Eric asked a split second before Ryan asked a question of his own. "What about the evidence we collected?"

"Yes Caine, what about it?"

Slipping on his sunglasses, the Lieutenant turned to face the Sergeant. "I'll make sure that the evidence gets to the lab and is logged in properly. By then, the Hummer should have arrived at the lab."

Eric nodded. "Come on Ryan, let's go." With that, he dug his hand into Ryan's pocket and pulled out his truck keys. Eric, couldn't help but smirk at the look on the younger man's face. "Remember, I said that you wouldn't be driving my truck for a long time?"

"Eric, come on, I don't drive that bad." He complained, running to catch up with the other man.

"So, let me get this straight. You, Lieutenant Caine, Calleigh's boss, are going to transport the evidence to the lab by yourself?"

"Do you have a problem with that Rick?" The redhead growled.

Not backing down, despite the look that he was receiving, Stetler glared at Horatio. "Yes and no. I have no doubt that you would follow standard procedure. I have a problem with the fact that if I allowed that to happen, a smart defense attorney would insinuate that there was the possibility that you could have tampered with the evidence."

Lowering the sunglasses, Horatio's eyes bore into the younger man's. Once the other men had walked away, H allowed himself a brief smirk. "Then, what would you suggest that we do Rick?" Horatio purred, his voice barely over a whisper.

"Damn it Caine." Rick muttered, trying to ignore the sensations the voice was causing. "Use your head. I'll transport the evidence." The younger man growled.

"Then what are you going to do? Are you going to babysit me as I log in the evidence? Observe me while I process the car?"

Rick swallowed deeply as the image of Horatio processing the Hummer appeared in his mind. Glaring at the redhead, he shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the images that were floating through his head. This was neither the time nor the place for that.

"Yes." He growled out. "As much as we both dislike being in each other's presence, we're just going to have to suck it up and deal with it."

Turning his head, he glared at the two patrol officers. "All right, the show's over. And, don't think that I didn't see what the two of you were up to earlier." When they ducked their heads, Rick allowed himself a brief smile.

"You're having way too much fun."

Rick barely heard the whisper, so he knew that no one else did. The younger man simply raised an eyebrow as he bent down to pick up the evidence that had been collected. Stetler then stalked over to his car, mumbling under his breath the entire time.

Lieutenant Caine pushed his sunglasses up on his face and glared at the internal affairs officer as he proceeded to round up the evidence that his team had gathered up. Without saying so much as a single word, he turned and marched over to his Hummer and climbed inside.

Just as Horatio inserted his key into the ignition, he saw the tow truck pull up. After cranking the engine and buckling himself in, H watched as the driver loaded up the vehicle. Out of the corner of his eye, Horatio saw that he wasn't the only one who was watching them.

* * *


	19. Chapter 19

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 19/?

**Author**: wolfsong98

**Beta(s)**: Hybryd0. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

By the time Eric and Ryan arrived at the hospital, they found Alexx in the waiting room. "What's going on Alexx?" The two men asked in unison.

The older woman couldn't help but give them a small smile. "Nothing much, I'm afraid. The doctor just took her back to do a MRI just to be on the safe side." Alexx shook her head. "Of course, Calleigh protested. So, I told her that if she didn't cooperate I'd save the doctor the trouble and give her a sedative myself."

"That's Calleigh for you," Ryan commented as he slipped into the chair beside Alexx.

"Yeah," Alexx agreed. "However, she is going to have to get over this business about arguing over each and every test if she wants to get better."

"How do you propose we do that? It's a big part of who she is?" Eric asked as he took the seat beside Ryan.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet." Alexx admitted, as she leaned her head against the back of the chair.

"We could threaten to take away her guns." At that, Ryan gave Eric a look. "What? Do you have a better idea?"

"If you do that, let's just say better you than me. Besides, I really don't think you could get them all away from her before she turned one on you." Ryan shrugged. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"Don't keep us in suspense, if you have an idea Wolfe, let's hear it."

Before Ryan could answer, he gave a huge yawn. "Sorry about that." Shaking his head, he turned in his seat to look at Eric. "We could threaten to make her do Horatio's paperwork."

Eric simply shook his head, before shuddering as he recalled the amount of paperwork that tended to accumulate on their boss' desk. "Damn. Leave it to you to come up with something so simple that might actually have shot at working. It's mean, though."

When the younger CSI didn't respond, Eric looked over at him with a puzzled look on his face. He couldn't help but grin at the fact that Ryan was once again sound asleep, his head propped up on his hand.

"Eric, honey, let him sleep. There's no doubt that he needs it. For that matter, you should get some rest as well. I'll let you both know the moment that there is any information available."

Knowing better than to try and argue with her, Eric just shrugged his shoulders. Crossing both arms behind his head, Eric sunk down in the seat and closed his eyes. "If you insist."

"I do." The mother hen watched both men until she was sure that both of them were resting. Once Alexx was satisfied, she stood up and walked around the waiting room to stretch her legs.

* * *

The drive back to the lab was rather uneventful. In fact, Horatio was able to keep the Ford Focus in his sight for most of the commute. He only got separated at the last traffic light before the turnoff to the crime lab.

When Horatio pulled into the parking garage, he found Rick leaning against the trunk of his car with his arms folded across his chest. "It took you long enough Caine."

Horatio rolled his eyes as he stepped out of his Hummer. "Rick, if you hadn't taken that light on yellow you wouldn't have had to wait on me."

"The light wasn't yellow when I started under it."

"So, it just magically waited until you passed through it to turn yellow so that I had to stop or risk running a red light?"

"Yes." Rick said with a smirk as he opened the passenger side door and reached inside to pull out the evidence that had been collected.

Horatio snorted softly. "Right and I'm Santa Clause."

An evil grin appeared on Rick's face as he remembered that the security cameras didn't pick up sound. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he schooled his features and pulled the evidence out of his car.

"So what am I going to be getting for Christmas Santa?" Rick smirked at the look on Horatio's face. Then, after looking around to make sure that they were indeed alone, he lowered his voice. "Wait a minute, I've been naughty…" With that, he stalked off towards the elevator.

Horatio just stared at Rick's retreating figure for a few seconds. "I can't believe that you just said that." H muttered just loud enough for the other man to hear him. The only acknowledgement the redhead received was a one-armed wave as Rick kept walking towards the elevator.

Horatio growled as he had to shuffle in place for a moment. Then, he remembered the security cameras and shot Rick his death glare as he stormed over to where the younger man was holding the elevator door open and tapping his foot against the ground impatiently.

"Problem Horatio?"

"Yes, you," H mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say? I couldn't quite hear you." Rick said with a wicked smirk as the elevator doors slid shut.

"Nothing," the redhead growled.

"For some reason, I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want." Horatio muttered under his breath, still glaring at Rick. He could feel the elevator slowing down and Horatio certainly wasn't ready to walk out of the elevator just yet, especially in the jeans that he was wearing.

"Give me the evidence. I'll carry it since I'm going to be the one logging it in."

"Why?" Rick asked, feigning innocence.

"You know damn well the reason why. So don't give me any of that innocent crap."

"Fine, take it." Rick stated as he placed the box on the floor right against the doors. He then took a couple of steps backward and leaned against the back wall of the elevator.

Horatio just shook his head, before stepping closer to the box. Fully aware that he was being watched, he took his time bending down. H couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face when he heard Rick clear his throat behind him. The Lieutenant could see from the reflection in the elevator doors that the other man had to cover his mouth with his hand to hide a grin.

Just as the redhead stood up, the elevator came to a stop. Seconds later, it pinged and the doors slid open. Rick sauntered out of the elevator past H with a huge smirk plastered on his face. Horatio followed, still glaring at the other man.

Horatio Caine was somewhat relieved that it was late on a Friday night. The skeleton crew that was running the lab, after blinking in shock, quickly hightailed it out of their way when they saw the men that were heading their way.

Once the two men had arrived at the evidence room, it was time for the tedious process of logging in each individual piece of evidence to start. While it was a lengthy process, Horatio's determination to make sure that whoever had attacked one of his team pay, had him taking his time making sure that all the Ts were crossed and the Is were dotted.

"You do realize that you don't have to stand behind me Rick?" Horatio asked once he had finished logging in the fingerprints. The redhead had to stifle a moan because of the feel of Rick's breath upon the back of his neck.

Before Rick had a chance to respond, there was a soft, almost hesitant knock on the door. Stalking over to the door, the IAB sergeant jerked the door open to find a nervous looking Cooper who was about to knock once more. "What is it?" Rick growled.

"I've…" Cooper swallowed deeply, as he squirmed under the scrutiny of Stetler's gaze. "I've got a message for Lieutenant Caine." Rick noticed that at the mention of Horatio's name the lab tech's eyes drifted over at the redhead where they widened at the sight of Horatio in casual clothing.

"Well, spit it out." Rick snarled. When the lab tech didn't answer, the sergeant glared at him only to notice that Cooper was nervously looking at each of them in turn.

This was one time that Horatio was glad that the process of logging in evidence was so boring. After briefly rolling his eyes, he turned around. "Cooper, what is the message?"

"I was… I was sent to inform you that the Hummer has been brought in." Once he had delivered the message, Cooper took off at a fast walk.

Aware of the security cameras, the two men had to fight the urge to look at each other and laugh at the lab tech's hasty exit. "What do you want to bet that they ended up drawing straws to see who was going to inform us that the Hummer was here?" Horatio asked as he looked back into the box and was relieved to see that he was almost finished.

Rick chuckled softly, as he moved up behind the redhead. "From the way he all but ran, I'd agree with you on that." Stetler replied as he pretended to glare at the Lieutenant.

* * *

Alexx shook her head, muttering to herself about stubborn blondes as she walked over to where she had left her boys sleeping. As she neared them, Alexx stopped in her tracks. A smile quickly formed on her face at the sight which greeted her. Eric and Ryan were both still asleep, but they weren't in the positions that they had been in when the two of them had drifted off to sleep. The two men were now leaning against each other. With a smile Alexx pulled out her phone and snapped a photo before emailing it to herself. Afterwards, she deleted the evidence from her phone.

As much as the older woman hated to wake her boys, she had promised Eric that she would wake them once there was any news. Additionally, she suspected that she was going to need their help in keeping Cal in the hospital until the doctor came back with the results from the MRI.

"Eric, honey, wake up." The older woman whispered softly as she gently shook his shoulder.

"Alexx?" He managed to ask, his voice scratchy from sleep. Before he could think to ask anything else, he gave a huge yawn.

"Yeah, baby, it's me."

"Any news?"

"Give me a minute and I'll let you know once we wake Ryan up."

"Allow me." Eric replied with a smile. Alexx couldn't help but notice the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What are you going to do?" She asked him suspiciously.

"Nothing," Delko replied a bit too fast. As if realizing that his quick answer failed to reassure their adopted mother, he gave her a huge grin. "I just want to wake him up. Please?" The look on his face caused her to laugh.

"All right, you can wake Ryan, just promise me one thing."

"Anything, Alexx."

"No tickling."

"But…"

"Ah ah ah, you promised. I might let you wake him up that way another time, but not now. I don't need to deal with the two of you bickering right now."

"Okay, okay, I won't tickle Wolfe." Eric promised, holding his hands up in the universal 'I give up' position. "Although, that really isn't fair." He mumbled under his breath, before flinching when he noticed that Alexx had heard him.

"Eric."

"Sorry, Mom." He replied, giving her one of his charming smiles, in hopes of appeasing her.

Instead of replying, the older woman just rolled her eyes. She muttered a word that sounded suspiciously like 'boys' under her breath.

Now that he had placated the one obstacle, he turned his attention back to the task at hand. Placing his hands upon his hips, Delco pondered how best to wake his friend up in an annoying way since tickling was out of the question.

"Hmmm…" Eric mumbled under his breath. After a few seconds, a grin found itself spreading across his face. He had it. Fighting the urge to snap his fingers, in case that woke Ryan up prematurely, he was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Well?"

"Give me a minute, please, Alexx. I'm almost ready."

"I'm not getting any younger here."

Returning to his seat, Eric reached over and poked Ryan in the nose. When that failed to get a response, he frowned and tried again.

After sneaking a glance over at Alexx, he could see that she was smiling. Eric grinned as he reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a mechanical pencil. After verifying that the lead was not sticking out, he got up and stood beside Ryan. Then, barely touching Wolfe's forehead with the pencil, he traced the younger man's hairline with the pencil.

It worked like a charm. Ryan jerked his head backwards before leaping to his feet. Once he realized where he was, Ryan glared at Eric who just smirked as he shoved the pencil back into his pocket.

"What?" He heard Eric ask. "I kept my promise and did not tickle him."

"I'd much rather you had tickled me." Ryan muttered under his breath as he rubbed his forehead. He was not going to admit to anyone, much less Delko, that the pencil had tickled more than it would have if someone had poked the ticklish spot on his side.

"If you guys are done, I've got some news for the two of you."

Instantly, both of her boys settled down and looked over at Alexx expectantly. "What's going on?" The two men asked at the same time.

"They finished the MRI, but the doctors want Calleigh to stay until the results come back. She's been moved to a private room for the time being."

Eric smiled. "Let me guess, she's putting up a fight about wanting to leave."

"Yes, she is." Alexx paused as she eyed the young men critically. "Well, she was anyway."

"What happened?" Ryan asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"I threatened to go grab a pair of handcuffs from one of you and chain her to the bed." She paused and frowned.

"Then what happened?" Eric prompted, waiting for her to continue.

"She seemed surprised that the two of you were here. Calleigh was under the impression that the two of you were back at the lab analyzing the evidence. Which is a really good point. Why are the two of you here and not at the lab helping Horatio?"

"Horatio told us to come here."

"What about the evidence?"

"Eric's right. H told us that he would log the evidence in and process the Hummer."

Alexx narrowed her eyes. "And Stetler was okay with this?" She asked her boys incredulously.

"He didn't object to it when we walked off." Eric replied as he and Ryan shrugged their shoulders.

Shaking her head, Alexx looked up at the ceiling. "Calleigh wants to see the two of you. While you're visiting with her, I'll double check that Horatio doesn't need you. Then, I'll be up to join the three of you."

* * *


	20. Chapter 20

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 20/?

**Author**: wolfsong98

**Beta(s)**: refreshingbeverage/occipitallobe and Hybryd0. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

Horatio was walking towards the garage with Stetler on his heels when his cell phone began to ring. Rick slammed into Horatio from behind when Horatio stopped suddenly to dig the phone out of the tight confinement that his jeans pocket provided.

"Could you watch were you're going Rick?" The redhead growled, glaring at the younger man.

"If you wouldn't stop dead in the middle of the hallway, then I wouldn't have too."

"You're always blaming others for your own shortcomings."

Their bickering was soon interrupted by the increasing volume of Horatio's phone. After successfully extracting the offending device, he flipped it open.

"Caine."

Placing his hands on his hips, Rick pretended to glare at Horatio while tapping his foot impatiently on the tiled floor.

"Yes, Alexx, I did." There was a brief pause as the redhead listened to her. "No ma'am, I don't need their help. Eric and Mr. Wolfe can stay with Calleigh at the hospital."

There was another short lull in the conversation followed by a low chuckle from Horatio. This earned him a curious glance from Rick. The look, which only lasted a few seconds, quickly morphed into an annoyed frown.

"I guess he was okay with it." Rick jerked his head up at that sentence which was followed by another pause. "Alexx, Rick is the person who not only transported the evidence, but also practically bored a hole into my back with his eyes as I logged the evidence in. Right now, he's tapping his foot impatiently as he waits for me to finish up this call so I can start processing the vehicle."

Stetler eyed the redhead warily. He wasn't positive, but he had the feeling that Horatio was plotting something. Rick was definitely expecting Horatio to get him back for his little stunt in the parking garage. Almost as if he sensed that Rick was watching him, H pointedly turned so that the younger man was staring at his back. Stetler narrowed his eyes as he tried in vain to follow Horatio's side of the conversation. Unfortunately for him, the redhead had anticipated this as well and thus lowered his voice.

Rolling his eyes, Rick huffed in annoyance. Missing H's smirk, he began to pace up and down the corridor. A few minutes later, though Rick would have sworn that it seemed much longer, he heard the phone snap shut. He stopped his pacing and turned so that he was facing Horatio Caine and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well?"

"Well what?"

Biting back a growl, Rick just stared in disbelief at Horatio. "Well, what was that call about? I know you well enough to know that you are not that dense."

After a quick glance to verify that they were still the only ones in the hallway, H whirled around to face Stetler placing his hands upon his hips. "That was Alexx. It seems that neither Eric nor Ryan informed her about me sending them to the hospital."

Biting back a grin at the confused look that appeared on Rick's face, Horatio decided to give him a brief rundown of the conversation that he had with Alexx.

"She didn't think much of it until Calleigh asked her why they were there instead of at the lab."

Rick grinned briefly. "So she questioned them." He could clearly picture the medical examiner interrogating the two men.

"Yes, she did. After which, she called me."

"What exactly did she want with you?"

"Alexx wanted to make sure that I didn't need either Eric or Ryan's help."

Stetler narrowed his eyes. "You're not telling me everything are you?"

Horatio simply smirked, before turning and walking in the direction of the garage. Rick rolled his eyes before storming off after the older man.

H waited until he was positive that Rick was behind him before speaking in a low voice. "She also wanted to know if you knew what I was planning and if you were okay with it."

Rick raised both of his eyebrows at that. While walking, Stetler folded his arms across his chest. _This ought to be good_, he thought to himself. "And just what exactly did you tell her?"

"I told her that I figured you were okay with it."

"Let me guess, she didn't believe you."

"You guessed correctly."

"So how did you convince her otherwise?"

"I explained that you were the one that transported the evidence. After which, you proceeded to hover over my shoulder as I logged it in."

Rick huffed. "I do not hover."

"Whatever you say Rick. Whatever you say. "

* * *

"See, I told you guys that I was fine," Calleigh declared, folding her arms across her chest as she stared at Eric and Ryan. The blonde resisted the childish urge to stick her tongue out at her friends. Instead, she settled for folding her arms across her chest. The three of them were sitting in the hospital room where they were waiting for the doctor to return with her discharge papers.

Alexx had left once Calleigh's results had come back saying that everything was fine and within the normal range. Even then, she would have stayed but Calleigh had insisted that she go home and spend some time with her family. Additionally, her boys had agreed with Calleigh, as well as promising to take care of her for Alexx which earned each of them a glare.

"You didn't know that for sure."

"Eric is right, Cal. You could have had something serious wrong with you and we wouldn't have known until it was too late to do any good. Since nothing has shown up on the tests, we don't have to worry."

Calleigh didn't say anything, but she knew that her friends had just made a valid point. Just because she realized it, didn't mean that she had to let them know. In fact, Hell would have to freeze over before she gave them that satisfaction.

The ballistics expert simply narrowed her eyes in thought, ignoring the conversation that her friends were having. Ever since she had returned to her hospital room from having the MRI, Cal had the nagging feeling that she was missing something important and it was driving her crazy. Biting her lip, Calleigh jumped down from the hospital bed, fighting back a yelp as the motion sent a sharp pain through her back as if she was being stabbed by a knife. Her movement succeeded in startling both of her companions.

She had finally remembered what it was that had been bugging her for the better part of the night. Calleigh was positive that she had dialed Horatio's cell phone and not Stetler's when she had been trapped.

"What is it Cal?" Ryan asked once he was able to find his voice.

She wasn't ready to answer that question just yet. Calleigh wanted to be positive before she mentioned her suspicions to either of her companions. It was as if fate was finally on her side and willing to lend a hand. Before she had a chance to respond, there was a soft knock on the door. A few seconds later, the doctor entered the room.

* * *

Rick Stetler wished that Horatio had been wearing one of his suits when their evening had been interrupted. It would have been easier to stay inside the safety of his IAB asshole persona if that had been the case. Now, he had to be careful not to stare at Horatio for too long because those jeans definitely left little to the imagination.

"Problem Rick?"

"Not really, no," the younger man answered a bit too quickly earning him a grin from the redhead as he pulled on his lab coat. Rick fought back a groan because the white material covered up a very nice view. _Well,_ he thought to himself, _I don't have to worry about staring too long now_.

The younger man strategically turned his back on the security cameras so that he could watch the older man work without having to play to the cameras. Meanwhile, Horatio quickly got to work examining the Hummer.

The room quickly descended into silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable one. In fact, not that he would admit it, but it was a nice change to watch Horatio Caine hard at work without their usual tension.

"I may have something."

"What is it Horatio?"

"I found a single strand of hair on the headrest."

"Driver or passenger side?"

"It was on the driver's side. It appears to be black in color."

"Nice. Is there anything else there that we can use to nail this idiot?"

"I'm working on it. Don't rush me."

"I'm not rushing you."

"Good."

As the redhead got back to work, the comfortable silence descended once more. Rick watched as H moved from the driver's seat to the backseat of the Hummer. The Lieutenant was thorough, taking his time to make sure that nothing escaped his critical eye.

In fact, it wasn't until after he had worked his way around the vehicle before he found the next piece of evidence. Stetler could tell from the older man's posture that he had found something.

"What is it?"

"There is an envelope which has been crumpled up and tossed underneath the passenger seat."

"Once you get it out, check the envelope for prints."

"Rick?"

"Yes, H?"

"Don't tell me how to do my job. Believe it or not, I do know what I am doing."

"Point taken."

* * *

Horatio had marked the hair as priority since it still had a tag attached, but it would still be a couple of days before Valera would have the results in. He knew that they still had some work to do in tracking which of the two men had motive to send Calleigh those emails. They also needed to determine whether they were working together or if one of the men was acting alone.

"You ready?" Rick asked as the older man hung his coat on the hook by the door.

"Almost. I just need to log in these fingerprints before checking on something in my office and then I'm good to go."

Stetler looked around and saw that Cooper was blatantly staring in their direction. "You need something Cooper?"

"N… No, sir."

"Then, go do some work for a change."

Rick fought back a grin as the lab tech all but ran down the hall back to the safety of his audiovisual lab.

"Good." Wiping his hands on his suit pants, the younger man turned to face Horatio. "Are we going to pick up where we left off or what?"

Horatio raised both eyebrows at Stetler's words before ducking his head and giving Rick a small smirk. "We will see, Rick. We will see."

Rick was too busy mentally kicking himself to notice the redhead's reaction to his question. It was only after he had spoken did he realize that there were two different references that the phrase could have alluded too. Of course, the brunette was open to either possibility, so he wasn't going to complain.

* * *

"At least this time, I don't have to worry about getting separated from him." Rick muttered to himself as he carefully folded himself into his small car.

Horatio had wanted to pick up something that he had forgotten as well as make sure that everything was locked up tight in his office. When the younger man had offered to wait, Horatio had insisted that he go on ahead.

"I won't be too long." Horatio promised.

* * *


	21. Chapter 21

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 21/?

**Author**: wolfsong98

**Beta(s)**: refreshingbeverage/occipitallobe and Hybryd0. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

True to his word, by the time that Rick pulled into Horatio's driveway, H was pulling the departmental Hummer in right behind him.

"Do I even want to know how many red lights you must have gone through to get here as quick as you did?"

"Probably not," the redhead admitted, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "But, you might want to pull your car into the garage."

"Why is that?"

"Because I don't know how long it is going to take us to finish looking over the files and, I have nosy neighbors. They will undoubtedly start asking questions when they happen to notice a strange car in my driveway."

Rick couldn't think of anything to say to that. Instead, he folded his tall frame back into the tiny car once more. The garage door in front of his vehicle slowly began to open. At the rate it was moving; Rick imagined that it had been years since it had last performed that particular function. Shrugging, Stetler threw caution into the wind and drove his vehicle into the dark cavern.

After killing the engine, the brunette stepped out of his car. Rick was walking over to where H's Hummer was still idling in the driveway. Just as he crossed the threshold of the garage, the door sprung to life once more nearly causing Rick to jump out of his skin. He just glared at Horatio who simply raised an eyebrow.

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

The brunette resisted the very tempting urge to roll his eyes. "Never mind, Horatio, that's not important. What is important is the fact that we need to talk."

By this time, Horatio had exited his vehicle and was stalking towards the younger man. Rick couldn't help but back up as the redhead approached. While they had been gone, night had fallen. The younger man smiled as H approached him.

"Talk about what Rick?"

"Us." Rick swallowed as he watched Horatio slowly approaching. "More specifically about what happened before we were interrupted."

The younger man had to bite back a moan as Horatio continued advancing on him until there was no place left for Rick to go. When he was backed up against the garage door, H placed his arms on either side of Rick and leaned forward to whisper into his ear. "I guess you're right. We do need to talk but, it will have to wait till after we get some more work done."

"Work?" Rick shook his head. Horatio was the only person that he knew who could make his voice squeak simply by looking at him and that was a recent development.

"Yes, work. We still have to find out exactly who is sending Calleigh those emails. Can you bring in those files I brought from the office and I'll go order us some dinner."

"I guess I can."

"There's no need for you to glare."

"Yes, there is." Rick muttered under his breath before stopping dead in his tracks as he stared into the back of the Hummer.

"Did you say something?"

"I said, just how many files did you bring?"

"I brought all the files of the cases that Calleigh has worked on since Officer Jessop started two years ago."

Rick blinked in response. "I hadn't realized that it had been that long."

"Surprisingly, it has. Did you bring your laptop?"

"I did, actually."

"Good. Where is it?"

Rick grinned, knowing full well his answer was going to frustrate the other man. _Turnabout is fair play,_ he thought to himself. "It's in the trunk of my car." The brunette watched the redhead carefully and sure enough, he didn't disappoint. "There's no need for you to glare."

Instead of replying, Horatio simply pressed the button to activate the garage door once more. Rick shot H another look, glad that he wasn't leaning against the door as it started to move. The thing was so slow that he could have easily moved in time to keep from falling, but that wasn't the point.

"Is there anything else you need from your car before I close the door again? Once it's closed this time I'm not opening it again until you are ready to leave."

"Well I left my briefcase inside in our hurry earlier so, in answer to your question, I don't think so." The brunette didn't figure that he was going to need the change of clothes he had in the trunk, so he closed it and walked back out.

"Is Perricone's okay with you?"

"I've never had it, so if you that's what you want then I'm fine with it."

Horatio blinked, not believing he heard Rick right. "You've lived in Miami as long as you have and you haven't eaten at Perricone's?"

"I really don't eat out much."

"All right, I'll go and order us some dinner. Just place the boxes on the floor by the coffee table and I'll join you as soon as I'm done."

Since Rick was already pulling some of the boxes out of the departmental vehicle he missed the smile H had on his face. He unlocked the front door before grabbing the cordless phone and disappearing into the kitchen so that dinner would be a surprise. The redhead failed to notice that Richie, who had been waiting by the door, slip out when he entered.

By the time Horatio had finished ordering their supper; Rick had managed to lug all of the files inside and was in the process of logging into his laptop.

"What's for dinner?" He asked, not bothering to look up from the computer screen.

"It's a surprise."

"How much do I owe?"

"Nothing."

That was all it took for the brunette to tear his attention away from the computer. "Why not?"

"Consider it my treat. I'm not going to change my mind, so don't waste your time."

"I'm going to at least pay for the tip and don't try to argue with me about that. It's the least I can do. But next time…" Rick paused, waiting until Horatio was looking him straight in the eyes before he continued. "Next time, I will be the one paying."

H's eyebrows rose at that, but wisely remained silent. He slipped past Rick, placing a pillow down to cover the busted spring, before settling down on the sofa beside him. "Fine. Why don't you see if you can find any connections between Harbor and Calleigh, and I'll look for any between her and Jessop?"

"Alright, just let me get logged into the system first."

"Fine with me," H replied with a grin as he picked up one of the folders he had brought home. Deciding to risk getting caught, he glanced over to his right and saw that the brunette was already in the system and reading. Shaking his head, Horatio turned his attention back to the file he had in his hands.

Both men worked in silence with the exception of the occasional rustling of pages being turned or click of the keys being pressed. It wasn't until he felt the couch move as Rick leaned forward that the redhead turned the focus of his attention back to the younger man. "Did you find something?"

"Maybe."

"What is it?"

"I didn't find a connection between Harbor and Duquesne, but I did stumble across something interesting."

Horatio turned on the couch so that he was looking at Rick. "I repeat, what did you find?"

"Well, it turns out that when Ryan Wolfe was in patrol, he had a partner. Three guesses as to whom that partner was and the first two don't count."

"Harbor."

"Yep, you got that in one try."

"Rick, do me a favor?"

"Depends on what the favor is."

Horatio tried to ignore Rick's smirk as he adjusted his position on the couch. Sending the brunette a glare, he cleared his throat. "Can you tell me what the date of Jessop's first solo callout was as well as the calls he responded to with Glisson?"

"Are you thinking it would help narrow down the files you have to search?"

"I'm hoping so, yes."

"Okay, just give me a minute."

A few clicks later, and the younger man sat up in his chair. "There were four callouts with Glisson that he responded to and those were on January 26, 2004, February 2, 9, and 16, 2004. Also, his first solo callout occurred on…" There were a few more clicks before Rick was grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "It was on April 19, 2004."

"What are you smiling about?"

"I think I just found the connection between Jessop and your CSI. It seems that he was the officer that was on scene when Calleigh went to talk to Mr. Rutter about the blood found on his watch matching that of his girlfriend."

Upon hearing the information, Horatio raised an eyebrow. Rick was so pleased at finding that little tidbit of information that he was practically vibrating in place and it was having an effect on him. "Nice work."

Horatio smiled when his words earned him a big grin. He wasn't sure whether to be mad or relieved when he heard a car pull into his driveway. Glancing to his right he saw that Rick was in the process of shutting his computer down. The redhead closed the folder he had been looking through and placed it on the coffee table. Slowly standing up, he felt a tug on his t-shirt. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"No."

"Yes, you are." The younger man leaned forward just enough that he could pull his wallet out of his back pocket. He quickly pulled out a bill and pressed it into Horatio's palm. "Tell whoever it is to keep the change."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. Now go! I'm hungry." Rick smirked as he placed the laptop back into its case. The doorbell chimed, and Horatio excused himself to go and answer it.

He could hear Horatio telling the delivery man to have a good night, as he quickly put the files back into the box that H had pulled them from.

Once the living room was back to looking like it was supposed to instead of an office, he headed into the dining area. When he arrived, he saw that not only had the table already been set but that the redhead had already placed the food onto the plates.

Rick's mouth had started to water just looking at the food. There were two nice sized sirloin steaks, baked potatoes, as well as corn. Then, to drink, there were a couple bottles of Corona. "This was delivered?" He asked in astonishment as he motioned at the food displayed in front of him.

"Yes. Yes, it was." The younger man raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Horatio had a small, almost shy smile on his face. The look was at odds with what he knew about the confident Lieutenant.

"What?" Rick asked, resisting the urge to look down and examine his clothes.

The redhead gave a small chuckle as he walked over to where the taller man was standing. "When I was ordering dinner, I realized that I didn't know how you liked your steaks cooked. Since I didn't want to ruin the surprise for you by asking, I ordered yours like I did mine…" The redhead's voice drifted off as his gaze settled on the table before them.

Rick blinked in confusion because he certainly wasn't used to anyone wondering if he liked something. "I'm sure whatever you got is fine."

H pulled the chair in front of him away from the table and motioned for Rick to sit down. "I ordered them medium well."

"That's fine." Stetler hated the fact that he was sounding like a broken record.

Horatio walked around the table and took a seat in front of Rick. "I guess what I'm asking is how do you like your steaks?"

"Oh," Rick answered, running a hand through his hair. "Medium rare."

"Oh."

"Though, as I told you earlier, I'll practically eat them anyway they are fixed."

"Which is your least favorite way?"

"Easy, I don't much care for well done. They're practically burnt to a crisp. What about you? I can guess that medium well is your favorite, but what is the one way you won't eat your steaks?"

"Rare."

The two men continued to eat, as they continued to question each other trying to learn more. When they had eaten their fill, Rick helped Horatio clear off the table and they decided to continue their conversation back in the living room.

* * *


	22. Chapter 22

**Title**: Find Out Who Your Friends Are (Skin) 22/?

**Author**: wolfsong98

**Beta(s)**: refreshingbeverage/occipitallobe. All other mistakes are mine.

See Part 1 for Warnings and Notes.

* * *

"That was good."

"I told you it would be."

"Okay, I bow to your knowledge…" Rick saw the other man's smirk, "…when it comes to places to eat out." He hurried up and added, finishing his sentence before the redhead had a chance to respond.

"Watch it."

"Watch what?" The brunette tried his best to look innocent and failed miserably.

"No comment."

"You're no fun." Rick complained with a pout.

"I beg to differ."

"Why do you say that?"

"Your reactions before we were interrupted spoke volumes." As he watched, H could see the other man's cheeks turning a lovely shade of red as he squirmed in his seat.

"What's the matter Rick? I thought you wanted to talk about it."

"I did… do!"

"What's the problem?"

"There is no problem, Horatio."

"Mind if I ask a question?"

"Be my guest."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but why did you kiss me earlier? I'm certainly not complaining, but I am curious."

Rick opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally finding his voice. "You're asking me that?!" Rick exclaimed in disbelief. After taking a couple deep breaths, he rolled his eyes. "It was because all of the teasing you were doing. I couldn't take it anymore and I reacted."

'Teasing?'

"Yes, teasing. First, you smacked me on my butt. Then there were there were the teasing comments, for example, that first meeting at my place when you said to 'have fun with the tapes'. And lastly, you kept bumping my leg with yours. I'm surprised that I lasted as long as I did. Any other person would have reacted long before I did. For the longest time, I thought that you hated me and I know that I acted like I hated you."

"So, you're saying you aren't normal?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying and there you go again."

"Sorry." Horatio apologized though he didn't look the least bit sorry. In fact, his eyes were sparkling with mischief. The redhead opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut as something Rick had said clicked into place.

"What?"

"I didn't hate you. I couldn't stand the way you acted so arrogantly that you thought you were better than everyone else. I'm now starting to see that most of it was an act." Horatio admitted as he looked over at Rick who was sitting in the chair beside the couch. After taking a deep breath and letting it out, he reached over and took the brunette's hand.

Rick was beginning to have trouble concentrating. 'Act?'

"Yes," H replied, not letting go of the other man's hand. "Yes, I think it was an act to keep people from getting too close. I'm not sure what the reason behind that is, but it started to slip the moment you heard that Calleigh had cancer."

"Sometimes…" The brunette shook his head, trying to get his thoughts together enough that he could make a simple sentence. "Sometimes, you're too observant."

"If you're a CSI, you can never be too observant." The redhead responded with a smirk. "Wait a minute, 'acted'?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said that you acted like you hated me. Care to explain that?"

"You tend to attract attention, and have from the moment I first laid eyes on you. Then, there was the fact that the promotion to Lieutenant was up in the air. I found it easier to place the blame on you beating me and shifting the focus of the frustrations that I had with my family, brother in particular, onto you instead of admitting the truth of what I was really feeling." Rick replied, hoping that his answer would satisfy the inquisitive redhead. He really didn't need to get into the real reason he had asked Yelina out in the first place.

"And just what were those feelings?"

"I'd think it was obvious by now, but if you need a clue…"

"Now who's the one being a tease?"

"Point made. So what do we do now?"

"I'm thinking that we can give it a shot." Horatio shook his head. Now, he was having a hard time concentrating and it was something he wasn't used to. "What I meant to say is, I'd like to give us a try if you want to?"

"I want to." Rick whispered. "But, what about your team?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean are you going to tell them? You said it yourself, and I quote, 'If they even suspect that I'm keeping secrets from them then that trust will falter and the cohesiveness of the team will begin to break.'"

"Eventually, I'd like to let them know. But for right now, they don't need to."

Rick got up from his chair, and walked over coming to a stop in front of the redhead. After placing a hand on the pillow to keep him from playfully jerking it out from under him, the brunette took a seat beside Horatio. "That sounds like a plan to me." Rick agreed.

Horatio grabbed the other man by his tie and gently tugged on it so that Rick's face was brought closer to his. "Where do you get your ties anyway?" He asked, blinking down at the garish green and blue paisley tie he had in his hands.

"Why do you want to know?" Rick growled.

"Because…"

"On second thought, I don't want to know why." Rick leaned forward, closing the remaining distance between them and pressed his lips against Horatio's effectively silencing him.

Just as quickly as it had begun, the kiss ended causing the redhead to moan in protest. When Rick raised his head, Horatio tugged not so gently on the tie before attacking the younger man's lips with his own.

After a brief duel for control, H quickly dominated the kiss. Without breaking contact, the redhead quickly maneuvered himself around so that he was straddling the brunette. All too soon, the men had to break for air.

"Wow…" Rick gasped.

The redhead said nothing, as he fumbled with the younger man's tie. He growled as the piece of fabric failed to cooperate and refused to be untied.

After a few minutes, Rick got tired of watching H fight with the tie and he batted the other man's hands away. "I'll get it."

"Good." The redhead growled. "This is exactly the reason I don't wear ties."

Rick was getting flustered. Normally, he didn't have any trouble with ties, but he was distracted by the way his body was responding to the redhead's growl. Sighing in relief when he finally had the tie untied, Horatio grabbed it out of his hands and threw it across the room.

The brunette grunted when the pillow beneath him slipped slightly. Horatio paused, briefly as he remembered the spring before standing up despite the other man's protests. Grabbing hold of Rick's wrists, he pulled him up to his feet. "Let's take this somewhere more comfortable." He purred in the other man's ear, enjoying the reactions it caused.

Rick smiled, allowing himself to be pulled towards the hallway when he stopped, surprising the redhead. He grinned and held out a finger before stepping away from Horatio.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm tired of the fact that every single time things start to get interesting, we get interrupted."

Horatio had to nod his head in agreement on that one. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

There was no answer, so Horatio watched the brunette as he walked over to where the phone was sitting and unplugged it from the wall. The redhead quirked an eyebrow at that, but said nothing as a smile formed on his face.

H caught on quick as he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his cell. In no time at all, he had set it on vibrate. A quick glance at the other man had confirmed he had done the exact same thing with his own phone.

* * *

Rick blinked. He didn't remember getting from the living room to the master bedroom. Horatio could definitely be distracting when he wanted to be. Speaking of the redhead, Rick yanked his t-shirt off, briefly admiring the view before the other man jerked the suit jacket off and let it drop to the floor. Their groins rubbed against each other as Horatio struggled with the buttons to the brunette's shirt. Rick helped the best he could managing to unbutton the sleeves before H decided to just forego trying to unbutton it and instead tugged it up straight over the brunette's head.

As Horatio kicked off his shoes, removing his socks, Rick was doing the same. The brunette was struggling with unfastening his belt when he felt the redhead's hands on his pants. As soon as the belt was opened, his pants dropped to the floor. Horatio grinned at the sight of Rick standing before him clad only in his boxers. He was about to reach over and jerk them down, freeing the other man's straining erection when he felt hands struggling against his jeans.

The simple action caused Horatio to instinctively take a step back much to the disapproval of Rick. "What's wrong, Horatio?"

"I forgot to mention the scars."

"Horatio, Red, we all have scars. Some just happen to be more visible than others. Now," Rick added with a growl, "take those pants off."

The redhead gave a 'what the hell' type shrug, and reached down beginning to unfasten the button when the doorbell rang. Horatio fumbled with the jeans as he hastened to fasten them back up. Rick, meanwhile, sat down on the bed, before burying his head into a pillow and screamed. As if in response to the muffled scream, there came an insistent pounding on the front door.

"Don't move." Horatio ordered, earning him a glare from the brunette. "I won't be long."

"Better not be."

* * *

Once the discharge papers were signed, it didn't take Calleigh long to track down and sign for her belongings. She had already talked the doctor into letting her change back into her street clothes once the results were in. By that point, the harried ER doctor was tired of dealing with her and gave her the okay. She was sure that was part of the reason getting the discharge papers had taken so long. It was probably his personal form of revenge.

As soon as she had her possessions, Calleigh flipped open her phone. The ballistics expert quickly searched through the options until she found the function that she had been searching for. She selected the call log option before choosing dialed calls.

"I knew it!" Calleigh exclaimed triumphantly, stopping dead in her tracks. Ryan, who had been talking with Eric, barely managed to sidestep out of the way in time to keep from slamming into her.

"Knew what Cal?" Ryan asked, as Delko tried to pretend that he wasn't finding Wolfe's actions amusing.

"I knew that I called Horatio's cell phone and not Stetler's."

"So?"

"So, it means that the two of them were together outside of work."

"Calleigh, H said that they were trying to determine who sent you those threatening emails."

"That wouldn't explain Stetler being grumpy when he answered the phone."

"Calleigh, Stetler is always grumpy."

"Ryan has a point there Cal."

"Fine, I'll give you that one, but it wouldn't explain why he sounded slightly out of breath." The blonde let her voice drift off, smiling as identical confused looks appeared on her friends' faces.

"What… What are you suggesting Calleigh?"

"I…" She paused, giving her head a small shake before continuing. "I think that they were making out." For a few moments, there was complete silence as both men digested that particular sentence.

"Horatio isn't gay," Eric commented once he had found his voice.

"Even if he was, H would never choose Stetler. He has way better taste than that." Ryan added, shaking his head to try and remove the mental image that Cal's statement had placed in his head.

"Why do you say that?" Calleigh asked as she folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Isn't it obvious? They hate each other."

Ryan kept quiet as he let Calleigh climb into the backseat of the truck. Once she was situated inside the vehicle, he closed the door for her, earning himself a glare, and climbed into the passenger seat as Eric started the vehicle.

"You know Eric, there's a saying about that."

"And what exactly is that saying?"

"It's been said that there is a fine line between love and hate." Almost as soon as she had spoken, Cal had to make a grab for the 'oh shit' handle as Eric made a sharp left turn.

"Delko, what the HELL are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed? This isn't the way home."

"Quit your whining, Wolfe. I'm simply proving to Calleigh that she is wrong."

"Eric, this isn't wise."

"Tell me about it, and he tells everyone that my driving is bad."

"Ryan, I am telling you about it."

"Would you two comedians cut it out?" Eric asked without taking his attention away from the road.

"Cut what out?" The two voices, of his passengers, chimed in unison.

Eric simply shook his head and muttered just loud enough for Calleigh and Ryan to hear him. "I give up."

The two friends grinned at Eric's declaration. Ryan turned around and gave Cal a high-five. Delko simply rolled his eyes and continued to focus his attention on the road.

* * *

"See, there's only the Hummer in the driveway. Can we please go back to Calleigh's place?"

"No, Ryan. That's not enough to prove to her that she's wrong." Eric said, as he killed the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Come on, everybody out of the truck."

"Eric, I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Why? Are you afraid that you're going to be proven wrong, Cal?"

"No, I just don't think it's very wise to be sneaking around our boss' house uninvited after dark."

"We're not going to be sneaking around. We're going to go up to the front porch and ring the doorbell."

"It's still not a good idea. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? Any idea of Delko's isn't a good one."

"I heard you the first time Wolfe, as well as the second, and the third time and I am not changing my mind."

"Now, that's a shock."

"Then, why don't you go on and we'll wait here in the car. Right, Ryan?"

"Sounds good to me."

"No, we all go together." Eric said as he exited the vehicle and closed the door behind him.

"Now, who's chicken?"

Eric took a couple steps towards the porch and stopped. Rolling his eyes, Delko walked back to the passenger side of his truck and tried to open the door. He rolled his eyes when he discovered that it was locked.

Smiling, held up his key ring, and enjoyed the look on Wolfe's face when he unlocked and opened the door anyway. "Nice try, Wolfe."

"I thought you grabbed the keys."

"He did. I just carry a spare set in case they get locked in the car or something."

"Figures."

"All right, enough stalling you two." Eric replied as he opened the door to the extended cab. "Need any help, Cal?"

"No, I don't." She snapped, as she slowly got out of the vehicle. Calleigh muttered under her breath, "I still think that this is a bad idea." She took a few steps before she stumbled and grabbing onto the side of the truck bed in order to keep her balance.

The next thing she knew, both men were at her side. "Give me a break, I just tripped. I'm not made out of glass you know."

Eric rolled his eyes as he ushered his friends forward. Ryan, earning himself a glare, refused to leave Calleigh's side and helped her up the gravel driveway.

* * *

Upon reaching the porch, they stepped back and allowed Eric the honors of ringing the doorbell. Whatever they had been expecting, hearing a muffled scream was not it. After briefly glancing at each other, Eric began pounding at the door.

A few minutes later they heard footsteps, and were greeted by Horatio opening the door and glaring at them. "What is so important that it couldn't wait till morning and, has you pounding on my door at ten o'clock at night?"

"It… it was his idea." Calleigh said as she pointed at Eric. "We tried… tried to tell him that it wasn't a good idea but the moron wouldn't listen to reason." She managed to get out as Ryan nodded in agreement before they took a couple steps backwards. Neither of them liked being under the scrutiny of Horatio's glare. It made them feel exposed.

"Well?" He asked, turning his intense gaze upon the younger man.

After the initial shock of the way in which they had been greeted, as well as being on the receiving end of the redhead's deadly glare, Calleigh was relieved when he focused most of his attention on Eric. It was then that she could take in H's appearance. H was leaning against the doorframe, still glaring at them. Their boss was now shirtless and, as if he could sense that she was staring, he cleared his throat. Calleigh jerked her head up in response.

"I know you can talk Delko, so answer the question."

Eric opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, imitating a fish perfectly. Just when he thought he had found his voice, he heard something that caused him to go mute once more.

"What is taking you so long Horatio?" A familiar masculine voice broke the silence.

H groaned, lowering his head. "I was trying to see why I had three members of the team standing on my porch this late at night."

"What the fuck are they doing here?"

"That's one way to put it." Horatio agreed, sighing.

Lifting his head, Horatio carefully observed the three members of his team. Calleigh was just standing there, holding her sides and giggling. She seemed to be amused whereas Eric and Ryan were just standing there gaping at him, their faces were an interesting shade of red.

"You might as well come in now. It looks like we need to have a talk." Horatio stated as he opened the door wider, revealing Rick standing at the bottom of the stairs. Like Horatio, he was just wearing pants. However, unlike the redhead, his were wrinkled as if they had been wadded up and then pulled back on.

"I'll go and get our shirts." Rick said, stepping around Richie as he quickly headed up for the stairs.

"What are you guys waiting for? You might as well come inside. I'm sure it would be more comfortable than standing on the porch all night." Suddenly Horatio knelt down and scooped a snarling mass of black fur, inches away from freedom. "It would also help to keep Richie from escaping."

Before he could warn anyone about Richie's temper, Ryan reached over to give the cat a scratch behind the ears and was rewarded with a swipe of his paw, claws unsheathed.

"Ouch."

"Probably should have warned you. He usually doesn't like anyone, although there is one notable exception. After adopting him, it was a few months before I was able to gain his trust enough that I could pet him without getting scratched." Horatio refrained from commenting on the fact that Eric's face was still an interesting shade of red as he took a step backwards where his team cautiously entered the house.

Eric was the last one inside. He was moving slowly as if he couldn't believe what he had just seen. He had driven to Horatio's place with every intention of proving Calleigh wrong and in the end had proven her right. He was never going to hear the end of it now.

About that time Rick came back downstairs, carrying the gray t-shirt that Horatio had been wearing earlier. His shirt and sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows. He took the cat out of Horatio's arms and handed the older man his shirt. "Y'all might as well have a seat."

Rick and Horatio shared a small smile as Ryan and Calleigh sat down at the opposite ends of the couch leaving the middle spot for Eric. Rick disappeared once more returning a few seconds later carrying a wooden chair from the kitchen. After placing it next to the arm chair that Horatio was relaxing in, he took a seat. Rick fully expected that upon releasing his hold on the cat, Richie would run off. Instead, he settled down and curled up in his lap.

Both men winced as Eric flopped down in the middle of the sofa right when Ryan, who not knowing about the busted spring, yanked the pillow off of the cushion. The young criminalist howled in pain, startling Richie who sat up hissing, as he leapt off of the couch. "What happened to your couch H?"

"It's old, and furniture eventually will break." Rick answered, coming to the rescue as Horatio quickly got up muttering something about getting an ice pack for Delko. Shortly after, the redhead returned with one. He handed it over to Eric before settling back down in his chair.

"Well, it's obvious that you now know. Is this going to be a problem for any of you?"

"No, H, it isn't." Calleigh practically sang before turning around and sticking her tongue out at her friends. "See, I was right."

Rick held up his hand. "Whoa, wait. Back up. What do you mean you were right?"

Calleigh blushed and gave Rick her most charming grin. "After the discharge papers were signed, I checked my phone because I was positive that I had called Horatio and not you. No offense."

"None taken. Please continue."

Well, I put that little piece of information together with the way you answered the phone. There were also a few other things and it all pretty much added up. The boys here tried to convince me I was wrong and Eric decided to prove it by driving us here…"

"And I inadvertently ended up proving you right, Cal. I know."

"I told you they were good." Horatio said, ducking his head, when Rick lifted an eyebrow as he glanced over at him.

"A little too good sometimes." The IAB sergeant growled.

"Rick, I can't argue with you on that one." Horatio agreed, glancing at the people in question. H chuckled softly, before reaching over and scratching his cat between the ears. Richie gave no outward reaction beyond a flick of his tail tip. Because of how it looked from her viewpoint, Calleigh couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

Rick frowned. "Have you been drinking?"

"No, I haven't. Can you tell me when I've had time between being trapped, stuck at the hospital, and being chauffeured here?"

"As much as I like the fact that we seem to be talking about everything but the situation, can we please get back on topic?" H turned and gave each of his subordinates a look. "Calleigh has answered the question already, but what about the two of you?"

"No," Eric answered rather quickly. Cal grinned when she caught him sneaking a glance over at Ryan.

"No, Horatio, it's not going to be a problem." Ryan assured him. "But, I do have one question. Why Stetler?"

"Can't Horatio fall for a handsome southern gentleman?" Rick asked, letting his southern accent surface.

Eric grinned. "Sure he can, I just don't see any."

They all chucked at that, even Rick. "I walked right into that one didn't I?"

"You sure did."

Ryan just sat there, shaking his head. No, he did not have a problem with the fact that Horatio was seeing someone. Nor did he have a problem with that said someone being a man. What had him genuinely puzzled was the fact that it was, of all people, Rick Stetler. It took him a few tries before he finally managed to get his voice to work. "H… How?"

"It just happened." Horatio smirked at the embarrassed look that, though it only lasted a second, appeared on Rick's face.

"Tell us what happened."

Rick nearly choked on his glass of water when Calleigh said that. The two men shared a look before Horatio finally spoke. "I don't think so Cal. It's on a need to know basis and that is something you definitely don't need to know."

"That's not fair."

"Of course it is." Rick retorted.

"I will find out, you know."

"We'll see. We'll see."

"How long… How long have you two been… well… you know?"

"Are you normally this articulate Delko?" Rick asked as Horatio rolled his eyes.

"This," H motioned at himself and Rick, "is a recent development."

"How recent?"

"Fairly recent and that's the best answer you're going to get. Isn't that right, Horatio?"

"Definitely."

"So," Calleigh began with a smile. "Where is your car Rick? I know you didn't hitch a ride with H because you said yourself nothing would change with how you acted at work."

Her question earned her quite a few raised eyebrows. "Come on." She said, adjusting her position on the sofa so that she was facing her friends. "Don't tell me you didn't think of that question?" Two identical blank looks on their faces greeted her. "Men." She muttered under her breath as she shook her head.

"For your information, my car is in the garage thank you very much."

Calleigh started to ask another question, which was thwarted when she yawned. "Sorry about that."

"Nothing to worry about, Calleigh. Nothing to worry about."

Rick picked up Richie, who just opened one eye lazily, and set him down on the floor. The cat stuck his tail straight up in the air and stalked out of the room ignoring everyone. Stetler watched him go before standing, and facing the three uninvited guests. "It's getting late and Calleigh needs to get some rest."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed as he slowly stood up. "It is getting pretty late. "Are the two of you ready?" He asked them before glancing down at the back of his left hand and was relieved to see that it had finally stopped bleeding. Ryan then turned to face Eric before he plucked the keys from the pocket of Delko's shorts. "I'm driving back and no arguments this time around."

"Whatever."

"I guess I am." Calleigh admitted, her voice strained with the exhaustion that she was feeling, before another yawn escaped.

"I'm ready as well." Eric replied, standing up as he handed the ice pack back to Horatio. He glanced at each of the two former rivals. "Seriously?" He gave his head a small shake. "Seriously, the two of you are together? This is not some sort of elaborate joke on the three of us, right?"

Rick shook his head and rolled his eyes. He was about to make a comment about some members of Horatio's team being smarter than others, but Horatio responded before he could.

"No, Eric. This is not a joke. Besides, you were the ones that showed up unannounced." The redhead stated simply before he stood up, where he took a couple of steps over to where Calleigh was standing. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Get some rest, please. You need it. You need it."

The two men followed them out onto the front porch and watched as Calleigh slowly climbed into the front passenger side of the truck causing Eric to have to sit in the back since Ryan was driving. She grinned and gave them a big wave as Ryan backed the truck out onto the road.

Once they were gone, Horatio couldn't help the groan that escaped. Rick slipped up behind him, running his hands across the older man's neck. "You're tense."

"I wonder why."

Rick smirked, causing the redhead to eye him warily. "What are you planning?"

"Me? I'm not planning anything."

"For some reason, I don't believe a word you're saying. Especially after the stunt you pulled in the parking garage and you had a similar look on your face then."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The brunette answered but, if anything, the grin on his face just got bigger.

"Just remember payback can be a bitch."

Rick gave a low chuckle. "Amen to that. Just remember what you just told me."

"What do y…?" H started to ask but was stopped midsentence by Rick smacking him on his ass. H rubbed his butt as he glared at the brunette. "I honestly cannot believe you just did that."

"Neither could I when you did it to me." Rick retorted, before sticking his tongue out and ducking back inside the house at a brisk pace.

"Oh no you didn't," Horatio called out hurrying after the retreating figure and slamming the door shut behind him. The only response he received was a loud laugh from deep within the house.

* * *


End file.
